Bunraku Puppet "Keisei"

A puppet made by TenguBen which was used in the scene of Akoya tortured with kotos of Dannoura kabuto gunki, the scene of Kanzaki-ageya (courtesan house) of Hiragana Seisuiki and other joruri dramas. The head of keisei, which means courtesan in Japanese, is especially highly reputed for its artistry among those heads of bunraku puppets. Bunraku before WWII used many puppet heads made by puppet makers such as TenguHisa, TenguBen and others from Awa in Tokushima. Unfortunately, almost all of these puppet heads were destroyed by fire due to the war. Thereafter Oe Minosuke, a disciple of TenguHisa and also a puppet artisan attached to Bunraku-za theater later on, made puppet head energitically to support the revival of bunraku.