A combined museum and working theatre about 4 km north of Tokushima Station, dedicated to Awa Ningyo Joruri — the local style of bunraku puppetry in which three-person teams operate metre-tall puppets to live shamisen accompaniment. The 17th-century estate belonged to Bando Jurobe, a samurai whose tragic story became the basis for one of bunraku's most famous plays.
Performances run daily at 11:00 and 14:00 in a small thatched-roof stage, and you can wander backstage afterwards to see the puppets up close. The exhibition hall covers four centuries of Awa puppetry, with English captions on most displays.