「富田文楽夏留学2020」 Tonda Japanese Bunraku Summer Program 2020
This summer the Tonda Traditional Japanese Bunraku Puppet Troupe is hosting a two-month summer program in the city of Nagahama in Shiga Prefecture near Kyoto, Japan.
This program is low cost and is open to students of all academic backgrounds; students in independent study courses at their home institution are also welcome, with academic credit requisites handled as needed. The 170-year-old Tonda Puppet Troupe has been hosting puppetry training programs yearly for international students since 1993.
The summer program includes participation in local festivals and community activities and provides ample time for independent travel and exploration. Nagahama is located on the shore of Lake Biwa, just an hour by commuter train from Kyoto and only four miles from the castle city of Hikone. Students will live with nearby host families for the entire two-month period while they receive training in traditional Japanese puppetry (and shamisen, if they wish).
Previous knowledge of Japanese is helpful but not required. A full breakdown of price, dates, and activities is included in the application form (link below). Applicants will be accepted on a rolling basis. This year, the application is online, and can be found here:
https://forms.gle/7kXdWcVH5LMyocku6
I would be grateful if you could pass word on to students or faculty who may be interested in the program.
This year's program will last from approximately June 6th to August 6th, and we estimate between 250,000 and 300,000 yen (approximately 2200-2600 dollars), non-inclusive of flight costs.
A recent attendee of the program, Robert Ward, kept a blog that applicants can read to get a feel for the program:
https://tondamonogatari.wordpress.com.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Dan Ebner
Tonda Summer Program Coordinator
https://www.facebook.com/tonda.ningyo (日本語/Japanese)
Personal: daniel.k.ebner@gmail.com
Work: daniel_ebner@brown.edu