Imada Puppet company ［Mechanism］

Let’s take off the puppet’s costume. Male puppets are made with a head, harness, hands and legs. The harness creates the shape of the shoulders with a shoulder plate and, the hands and legs are tied together with a string which is attached to a waist ring to create the belly of the body.

The kashira is formed from the head, neck (neck rod) and toggles in the torso. In these toggles there is a mechanism to make the head nod and a mechanism to move the eyes, eyebrows and mouth. You hold it tightly with the left hand and action the mechanisms with your fingers.

Puppet hands are used differently depending on the roles. There are many types of hands: 5 fingers moving, joints moving, dedicated to play shamisen and koto.

On the back of the shin of male puppets there is a metal bracket which you hold on to in order to action the different legs. By the way, female puppets generally do not have legs. The different legs are expressed by moving the hem of the kimono and arranging its shape.

The puppet, shamisen and tayu (narration) puppet show became a trinity work performing art. Then, to move the body of one puppet it is also a collaboration of 3 people.  On the left in the picture, it is the Omozukai who operates the toggles and support the body of the puppet with his left hand, and operates the right hand with his right hand. On the right, the Hidarizukai operates the left hand, and in the middle the Ashizukai operates the legs (the hem of the kimono for female puppets). When their 3 respirations are perfectly synchronized, the puppet comes alive for the first time.