Tonda Puppet Troupe (冨田人形共遊団, Tonda Ningyō Kyōyūdan), founded in the 1830s, is one of the most active groups performing traditional ningyō jōruri or Bunraku puppetry in Japan, and has been officially designated an Intangible Cultural Treasure.
In 2016, the current emperor, Naruhito visited Nagahama and the Tonda Puppet Troupe performed for him and his wife.
They are in possession of some of the oldest bunraku puppet heads after the National Bunraku Theater burned down. Their oldest heads are 250 years old and have a stamp branded into the handle.
Based in the northern part of the city of Nagahama near the shore of Lake Biwa, in Shiga Prefecture, northeast of Kyoto, the Tonda Puppets have made international performance tours to Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Germany, and thirteen times to the United States. The Tonda Troupe performs regularly at their own theater in Nagahama and on tour within Japan. The Tonda Puppet Troupe also instructs elementary school students in bunraku puppetry and hosts training sessions for local citizens interested in pursuing the art of the traditional puppet theater. The Tonda Troupe has also been active in training American college and university students in traditional Japanese puppetry in academic programs sponsored by such institutions as Berea College in Kentucky and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as well as the Japan Center for Michigan Universities, which is located in the nearby city of Hikone. In 2012 they also hosted a group of A-Level Theatre Studies students from Abingdon School and The School of St Helen and St Katharine, two independent schools in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
