Two Important Puppet Collections
I was privileged to have had an introduction to Sennosuke Takeda, head of the Japan chapter of UNIMA, the international organization of puppeteers, and also the leading proponent of the Japanese string puppet tradition. He lives in Iida which is not far from Nagano and on the way to Kyoto. There he teaches and maintains a museum that bears his name.
Marionette control.
I arrived in time to observe the final session of a workshop Mr. Takeda was teaching on Japanese string technique, not a tradition for which the Japanese are well-known, but very interesting in the hands of a master. Figures are generally small - no more than 15" high. They are able to achieve very subtle and expressive movement, even though the puppeteers manipulate the strings from very high above the stage, perched precariously on narrow planks in several parallel horizontal ranks. Unlike most marionette traditions in which the puppets all move in the same plane, Mr. Takeda’s string puppets can move on different horizontal planes in more interesting and realistic configurations on the stage.
Mr.
Takeda’s Museum is dedicated to the company, of which he is the
heir and leading proponent and also to string puppetry from all around
the world. Puppet masterpieces designed by Kinosuke Takeda
are prominently displayed alongside those of Philippe Genty
and Albrecht Roser. Takeda Marionette Theatre, a major
company employing dozens of performers and artisans, was designated an
Intangible Cultural Property of the Metropolis of Tokyo where it thrived
in it’s own theater for nearly fifty years. Today, his company is
relatively small and performs for children in a theatre in the museum.
After the workshop, Mr. Takeda graciously hosted me in his home. The next
day, he provided me with one of the most fascinating and unusual highlights
of my sabbatical.
Kinosuke Takeda creating a puppet head.
Farmers rehearsing.
Together we attended a rehearsal of local farmers who
perform an amateur Bunraku-style puppet folk art. It was very moving and
touching to watch, because these ordinary farmers were so serious about
and proud of their art form. There had been a puppet theatre in this same
village for over 200 years. Recently condemned, the original old theatre
building has now been replaced with a beautiful new theatre where the
rehearsal took place with a stunning interior all in natural pine. 
They gave me a tour of the condemned building, and the morning after the rehearsal they showed me their collection of antique puppets and demonstrated how they manipulate them. After the rigorous secrecy of the National Bunraku Company, it was refreshing to see these puppeteers eager to show off their traditional techniques to a stranger.
En
route to Kyoto after leaving Takeda, I stopped at the Torokko Puppetry
Library and met with its curator, Katami Eimei, a puppeteer
who performs children’s plays with his wife. He has what is acknowledged
to be one of the most comprehensive collection of books from all over
the world on puppetry and representations of puppets (woodcuts, Japanese
prints, puppetry ephemera and puppets themselves). The library has a particularly
interesting collection of Chinese puppets. Mr. Katami and his wife spent
the day demonstrating puppets from their collection as well as from their
company, plus many woodblock prints and paintings.
