The most famous and perhaps most demanding of the narrative styles is , named after Takemoto Gidayū (1651–1714), who was heavily involved in the puppet-theater tradition in Osaka. The and its plectrum are the largest of the family, and the singer-narrator is required to speak the roles of the play, as well as to sing all the commentaries on the action. The singer-narrator role is often so vocally taxing that the performers are changed halfway through a scene. There is little notated in the books () of the tradition except the words and the names of certain appropriate generic responses. The player must know the entire work perfectly in order to respond effectively to the interpretations of the text by the singer-narrator. From the 19th century, female performers known as or also carried on this concert tradition.
