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The heads (kashira) of the Bunraku puppets are divided
into male and female, and then classified into categories
according to the age, rank (social class), and distinguishing
personality traits of the role they portray, and all of
them have special names reflecting their special characteristics.
If the play is different but the type of character is
the same, the same head might be used for different characters
in different plays. Sometimes, in order to match the character
more closely, they are even repainted to give the right
skin tone, or the wig might be changed, as the heads as
used for one role after another. Also, there are a number
of heads that are specific to certain roles, and there
are several used for child roles and numerous other characters
that are attached to one-man puppets (tsume-ningyo). The
heads are the responsibility of the "head master" (kashira
tanto), who prepares them and repaints them for every
performance. In addition, another important aspect of
his work is that he carefully checks the strings and levers
that control the movements of the eyes and mouth, and
if he finds any problems, he fixes them right away.
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A Bunraku puppet's head
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The
Mechanism of the Puppets' Heads
The movement of the eyes, eyebrows,
and mouth of the puppet heads is achieved by
the main puppeteer, by moving, with the fingers
of his left hand, the levers attached to the
dogushi stick in the doll's neck. If he moves
the special little lever that is attached to
the head with shamisen strings, the puppet's
head can be made to nod up and down in time
to the shamisen music. This movement also relies
upon a special construction called bane ("spring"),
which is made out of baleen.
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Copyright 2004, by the Japan Arts Council. All rights reserved.
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