About the Yearbook of Japanese Puppetry

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UNIMA JAPAN was founded in 1967 as the Japan Center of UNIMA （UNION INTERNATIONALE DE LA MARIONNETTE）. Through various projects, it has contributed to development of the art of puppetry. One of those important projects is to edit and publish the Yearbook of Japanese Puppetry. The Yearbook was first published in 1974, and since then it has been collecting national data on puppetry.

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As actual records of Japanese puppet companies, the Yearbook lists the number of their members, the year of their foundation, their address, and the titles of their shows, all of which are based on the annual questionnaire to professional and amateur groups, as well as to traditional and contemporary companies. In addition, those data on local puppet centers, preservation societies, puppet festivals, puppet theaters and related organizations are also included. Moreover, there are annual records of international exchanges and a list of publications as well, and all of these are important data to know the art of puppetry in Japan. The Yearbook is the only publication with general point of view on Japanese puppetry, and its integration is an important database for Japanese puppetry as well as for Japanese theater in general.

As featured topics, various articles and essays are also published in the Yearbook.  Those include essays （some of which are translated from another language） on professional education and history of puppetry. The essays are appreciated by individuals, and shared in study sessions of UNIMA JAPAN, Japan Puppeteers Association and Japan Puppet Theater Conference, both of which are groups of professional puppeteers.