Karakuri-ningyo ( 絡 繰 り 人形 ) - mechanical dolls from Japan of the 18th - 19th centuries . The word "karakuri" is translated as "a mechanical device designed to tease, deceive or surprise a person." The word "ningyo" in Japanese is written in two characters, denoting a person and form, which can be translated as a puppet , a doll or a scarecrow.
Types of Karakuri Ningo
There are three main types of karakuri-ningyo:
- butai karakuri ( Japanese 舞台 か ら く り ) - used in the theater ,
- Dzasiki Karakuri ( 座 敷 か ら く り ) - small dolls for playing in the rooms,
- dashi karakuri ( 山 車 か ら く り ) - used in religious holidays.
The most famous puppet, tahakobi-ningyo , a tea-serving doll, holds a tray in her hands. If you put a cup of tea on a tray, the doll begins to shake its head, move its legs and move toward the guest to whom the drink is intended. When tea is taken from the tray, the doll stops; when they put an empty cup on a tray, it turns around and comes back.
Another well-known kind of doll, dangaeri-ningo - a doll descending the stairs - can make coups through the back and thus descend on a stepped surface. The secret of the doll’s movement is to change the center of gravity that occurs when the mercury is transfused inside it and causes the doll to roll over. There is also a clockwork Sinatama Ningyo , a magician doll depicting a child in Chinese clothes, who raises and lowers the box, revealing a new object every time.
All these dolls have the common name dzasiki-karakuri , from zasiki - “room with tatami”, and karakuri - “mechanical toys”.
Modern karakuri
Today there are karakuri on sale, reproduced according to old drawings. One of the manufacturers of such replicas is the Japanese company Gakken , which produces three models of “boy archer”, “acrobat” and “servant serving tea”.
Links
- Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karakuri Ningyo
- "Wooden Samurai - Artificial Life" on the site "Popular Mechanics"