Bunraku Master Retires After 50 Years, Replacement Requires Three People and None of Them Want the Legs

Bunraku master Takeshi Yamamoto has retired after 50 years of performing at the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka, leaving behind a legacy described as 'irreplaceable' and a staffing crisis described as 'nobody wants to do the legs.' In traditional bunraku, three puppeteers operate a single figure: the omozukai controls the head and right arm, the hidarizukai controls the left arm, and the ashizukai controls the legs. The three roles are hierarchical, with the head operator being the most senior and the leg operator being the most junior — a position that, in Yamamoto's company, has been vacant for six months. 'Everyone wants to be the head,' said company director Haruki Ningyou. 'The head gets to control the expression, the gaze, the emotional core of the performance. The left arm is acceptable — you get to hold props, gesture, participate in the dramatic action. But the legs? The legs just walk. Nobody applies for the legs.' The position has been advertised in every major puppetry publication. Qualifications include 'ten years minimum puppetry experience, physical fitness sufficient to maintain a crouched position for extended periods, and a genuine enthusiasm for bipedal locomotion.' Nineteen applicants responded. All requested the head position. 'I told them the head position is filled,' Ningyou said. 'I told them the left arm position is filled. I said we need legs. They said they would think about it. That was three months ago.' The company has been performing with a two-person puppet that floats slightly above the stage, which audiences have interpreted as 'an avant-garde artistic choice' rather than 'a staffing shortage.' 'It's actually getting good reviews,' Ningyou admitted. 'People think the floating is intentional. But it's not. We just don't have anyone to do the legs.'