puppets
Tonight at the National Theatre I watched Bunraku, or Japanese puppet theatre. I swear, only the Japanese would make something so troublesome and so precise for the sake of storytelling. Not only is each child-sized puppet a complex marionette but also takes three people to operate... one for the right arm and head, one for the feet and one for the left arm. To top it off, all the puppeteers but the main head/arm guy wear black hoods (Reminiscent of clansmen). ALL the lines in the story are narrated and sung by one man accompanied by a shamisen player. Truly entertaining.

In case you're interested, I've also posted pictures of my host brother's wedding in this directory. Like I said, great dress, fabulous cake. Take a look.