A JAPANESE BUNRAKU THEATRE PUPPET HEAD. Circa 1920. Made of papier-mâché, hinoki wood and human hair to resemble a young samurai with a chonmage, traditional Japanese topknot, with articulated eyes, eyebrows and mouth, with a mark reading Shōsai, possibly produced in Awaji island near Tokushima, contained in a Showa box, 40cm H. (2) Bunraku, also known as Ningyō Jōruri, is an early form of puppet theatre originating in Osaka in early 17th Century. Each large puppet is animated by two puppeteers called Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai, and accompanied by the chanters tayū, reciting the text of the play with to the accompaniment of the three-stringed shamisen and sometimes taiko drums. ---------------------以下为软件翻译，仅供参考---------------------