The head puppeteer uses his left hand to support the torso and operate the head, while his right hand moves the puppet's right arm. One assistant operates the left arm and another operates the puppet's feet.
Mastery of bunraku puppetry takes decades. Practitioners traditionally spent 10 years working the feet and 15 to 20 as a left-arm operator before becoming a head puppeteer. Even the top performers constantly study the plays to determine how to better express human emotion with a doll.
During performances, the three puppeteers are in full view of the audience, moving in unison to breathe life into the puppets. They are usually cloaked in black and wear hoods that completely cover their heads.
"Because they are puppets, they can do things humans cannot do," said Tamao. "But our principle is to follow human movements and not take advantage of the super-human flexibilities of the puppets. We don't want to excite the audience with acrobatic motions, but by following the natural human movements as close as possible."
Tamao was just out of primary school when he became an apprentice to the bunraku master Tamajirô Yoshida and assumed the stage name Tamao Yoshida. (Rarely do Bunraku performers go by their personal name, which for Tamao is Sueichi Ueda.)
As is customary for an apprentice, Tamao performed menial labor and ran errands while learning the content of the plays by observing his master and watching performances from the wings of the stage.
After seven years learning how to operate the legs of the puppets, Tamao was drafted into the army. When he returned, he rejoined the Bunraku troupe and graduated to left-arm manipulator, a role he held for 14 years.
During those 14 years, he occasionally worked as a leg manipulator because of his recognized skill and also took on some minor roles as the head puppeteer before finally receiving the designation as a full-time head puppeteer.
According to Tamao, bunraku training is based on watching and imitating the art of superiors. "If you ask, they will tell you. But otherwise the masters do not instruct you step by step. You had to learn on your own," he said.
Bunraku's Future
Today, Tamao is a respected elder within the troupe and is training the next generation of performers. He hopes his successors will also learn as he did, by thoroughly studying each role and resisting flamboyant displays of their skills.
The training system, which Adachi, the American author, describes as steeped in formality and etiquette, has changed little from the old days.
"It is such a traditional art," she said. "They do exactly what has been done before. As they achieve seniority, talent, and recognition they make slight variations, adding individual artistry to their performances."
In 1984, the National Bunraku Theater opened in Osaka and incorporated a training center for would-be puppeteers, narrators, and musicians. Performances regularly take place twice daily to capacity audiences of 753 people. The troupe also performs at the National Theater in Tokyo where plays are usually sold out far in advance.
Tamao said he wants "bunraku to be loved by its audience" and expressed hope that audiences will continue to be excited and entertained.
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