1. Osaka is the home of the government-supported troupe at National Bunraku Theatre.

2. The population indulged in the famous Kabuki plays (historical dramas), Bunraku (puppet theater), and rakugo (comical storytelling).

3. At the same time, Kabuki became closely associated with and influenced by Bunraku, an elaborate form of puppet theater.

4. The famous playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, one of the first professional kabuki playwrights, produced several influential works, though the piece usually acknowledged as his most significant, Sonezaki Shinjū (The Love Suicides at Sonezaki), was originally written for bunraku.