In a work written in this genre, narration on six roads to hell foreshadows the title courier’s execution for stealing money to free his love from a brothel. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this genre that uses jōruri narration, which pairs a chanter with shamisen music.
ANSWER: bunraku [or ningyo jōruri]
[10e] Bunraku’s jōruri music traces back to blind lute-playing monks who transmitted one of these long narrative poems called The Tale of the Heike. The oldest known poem in this form follows the Sumerian king Gilgamesh.
ANSWER: epics [or epic poems]
[10m] Bunraku-inspired forms of shamisen music feature in this other Japanese genre, whose actors often hold mie (“MEE-yay”) poses while dancing in exaggerated kumadori makeup.
ANSWER: kabuki
<Editors, World Literature>