Bunraku puppets!

I need to find someone to contact about the making of bunraku puppets. I am in an theatre class and we have an assignment where we must act as a dramaturge for a theatrical tadition; my tradition is bunraku puppets. If you know anyone I could contact, or know yourself about the making of bunraku puppets and the process, please let me know ASAP!
Thanks so much!

Alyssia720 said:

I need to find someone to contact about the making of bunraku puppets. I am in an theatre class and we have an assignment where we must act as a dramaturge for a theatrical tadition; my tradition is bunraku puppets. If you know anyone I could contact, or know yourself about the making of bunraku puppets and the process, please let me know ASAP!
Thanks so much!

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I believe that bunraku puppets are not made by one craftman, but several are involved. Some craftsmen are specialized in making the head, hands and feet, also there're others who are specialized in wigs, or costumes.
Some of them have classes, but all their webpages are available only in Japanese.

http://www.bunrakuningyou.com
HISHIDA Masayuki, an artist for making heads
http://www.bunrakuningyou.com/work/process.html
http://www.bunrakuningyou.com/work/class.html
Basic process of making a head
(simple one without clock work)

http://bunraku.support-japan.jp/index.html
NAGOSHI Shouji, an artist for making wigs
http://bunraku.support-japan.jp/gallery/katura1.html
http://bunraku.support-japan.jp/gallery/katura2.html
Gallery of various wigs
http://bunraku.support-japan.jp/news/index.html#13
Article about him (in English)

http://www2.edu.ipa.go.jp/gz/g1bun1/g15nng/g1nng1/IPA-bun190.htm
Photos and video clips for bunraku puppets

I cannot find details on the costumes.

Sounds like a tough assignment !

There is a ton of info you can find using Google. I saw no where you could buy such puppets. Originals would cost a fortune and be collector items. Originals were made of wood and very complex to build , dress, and operate.Because of their size, even if there were imitations, the material to make such large puppets look good , I bet they would be very expensive. One thing I ran into a lot, were links to movies about making and using the puppets that would no longer work; just got error messages. The websites with the most info and good pictures seemed to be in ADOBE format. I used "Bunraku" "ningyo-joruri" "Bunraku puppets for sale" and "making Bunraku puppets" for Google search topics and got a lot of good hits to read. Good luck!

Uncle Frank

The puppet making class webpage says it is usually takes 5-6 months to make a simple head...

i think this Japanese traditional craft requires apprenticeship,making process is intensively elaborate

I have ths same assignment and I picked the same tradition. Have you found anyone to contact because I have e-mailed several proffessors at various universities and none of them have responded so far. This leaves me in desperate need of a primary source.

I am in the exact same boad as all of you. I have e-mailed several professors, and have not recieved a response. I have contacted several japanese puppeteers, none of whom know how to build the puppets. Any help would be greatly appreciated