topic three

The Puppeteers and Puppets

the theatre also adopted the option that puppeteers were
not required to wear hoods. When an individual trains to become a puppeteer, an order of experience, seniority, exists amongst the roles. In the older days, it would take ten years of apprenticeship as the second assistant before the individual was eligible to move to the first assistant slot. After moving to the first assistant position, the individual would train ten years in that position before even being eligible to become a head puppeteer.

Puppeteers typically begin as an ashi-zukai or leg puppeteer (second assistant). The leg puppeteer is constantly bent over holding leg grips on the puppet. Responsibilities of the leg puppeteer are moving the legs or giving the illusion of moving legs (women roles do not actually have legs) as well as stomping their feet as if the puppet were actually walking.

The next level of puppeteer is the hidari-zukai or left-hand puppeteer (first assistant). Although the left-hand puppeteer is in charge of the movement of the left hand, the puppeteer must also take props from the prop man while staying in time with the other arm. In addition to these responsibilities, the hidari-zukai often will help support larger puppets by holding onto the puppet’s waist.

The head puppeteer is called the omo-zukai and is the most experienced of the puppeteers (principal operator). Responsibilities of the head puppeteer are numerous. He holds the head grip, holds most of the weight of the puppet, moves toggles on the head grip to transform facial expressions, and manipulates the puppet’s right arm. He wears special stage clogs called butai geta to help make room for the leg puppeteer.

Each Bunraku puppet has been handcrafted. The head of the puppet is completely carved out of wood with careful attention to great detail. A mechanism is placed inside the hollowed out head of the puppet in order to make the eyes and mouth move correctly. The clothing is hand sewn as well. Prior to a performance run, each puppeteer assembles his own puppets. Before assembling the puppets, a kashirawari iin or distributor of the heads looks over the text for the performance carefully to understand each character in order to choose the exact head to give to the puppeteer. After the distributor assigns a head to the puppeteer, a wig maker creates a wig for the puppet. The next stage is costuming. Costumes are important in distinguishing characters. The costumes are also incredibly important in making the art seem to come alive.

The frame and mechanism of the puppet is interesting. The head of the puppet goes on top of a special head-grip that goes through a hole in the shoulder board. Loofahs go on the edges of the shoulders to create roundness; then, fabric covers the front and back of the shoulder board with bamboo hoops attached to create hips. Legs and arms attach separately to the shoulder board; however, female puppets do not typically have legs. The puppeteer sews the costume on the framework and a slit cut in the back for the puppeteer to reach the head-grip.

Overall, the handcrafted work of each individual puppet is beautiful. Hours of work go into creating and maintaining the puppets. The behind the scenes artists are so important to the success of Bunraku. Without the talent and the work force behind the scenes, Bunraku puppets would never reach the stage.