Puppet - Puppet

An old name for a puppeteer. It is also written as a puppeteer. In Japanese, it is called "kugutsu" or "kugutsumawashi," and there are various theories about its origin, such as the origin of a basket made of woven plants called kugu, which is used to carry puppets and other tools, or the origin of the word being a foreign word, such as the Tang Dynasty word kuluts. In the past, it referred to wandering people in ancient Japan who made a living by performing acrobatics and puppetry. It is believed that these people existed as early as the Nara period, but the word "kugutsu" appears in the mid-10th century Wamyō Ruijūshō, and the later Sangakusakumon states that in the 9th century, Toshujin learned Chinese puppetry and performed it at the Imperial Court. However, details about them only became clear from the mid-Heian period onwards, in documents such as "Honsho Mudai Shi," "Makura no Soshi," and "Kagakushi-ki," and they were described as a nomadic people whose men hunted with bows and horses, performed acrobatic tricks such as swords and balls, performed illusions, and manipulated puppets, while the women worked as prostitutes, singing and playing erotic music. Towards the end of the Heian period, the word "tekugutsu" appeared, as in "Ryōjin Hishō," but it referred to puppeteers who held and manipulated puppets directly with their hands, or to the puppetry in question, and the word kagakushi came to be used in the narrower sense. Documents from the Muromachi period contain many examples of the word "tekugutsu." From the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of the early modern period, a group based at Ebisu Shrine in Nishinomiya, Settsu (Hyogo Prefecture) gained influence and traveled around the country calling themselves "Ebisukaki" (Ebisukaki), but this was combined with Joruri to give birth to Ningyo Joruri. At the same time, it became a street performance, and a popular form of puppet theater was the hanging-neck puppet theater, in which a puppet box was hung from the neck and the puppet was controlled from the box while walking around the doors of the house. In the Edo period, this was seen as a puppeteer's art and continued until the end of the Edo period. It is also called "hanging-neck theater," "wooden puppet spinning," and "wildcat spinning," and its unique style can still be seen today in Kiyomoto Kabuki dance.

[Masahiro Nishikado]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

人形遣いの古称。傀儡師とも表記される。和訓で「くぐつ」「くぐつまわし」といい、この語源には、人形などの道具を入れて歩く久具(くぐ)という植物を編んだ籠(かご)とか、唐代語のkulutsなど外来語説などがある。古くは、曲芸や人形を操る芸などを生業とした古代日本の漂泊民をいった。すでに奈良時代にはこれらの人々がいたと推定されるが、10世紀中ごろの『倭名類聚抄(わみょうるいじゅしょう)』に「久々豆(くぐつ)」の語がみえ、そのすこしあとの『散楽策問(さんがくさくもん)』には9世紀ごろに藤醜人(とうしゅうじん)が中国の傀儡を習って宮中で演じたと記されている。しかし、彼らについての詳細が明らかになるのは平安中期以降で、『本朝無題詩(むだいし)』『枕草子(まくらのそうし)』『傀儡子記』などの文献にみえ、男は弓馬を使って狩猟し、刀玉のような曲芸をし、幻術をし、人形を操り、女は唱歌淫楽(いんらく)の遊女を業とした漂泊の民であった。平安末期になって、『梁塵秘抄(りょうじんひしょう)』にみるように「てくぐつ」の語が出てくるが、手で直接人形を持って操る人形遣い、またはその人形戯をさし、傀儡子の語は狭義に使われるようになった。室町時代の文献には「てくぐつ」の用例が多い。中世末から近世初頭にかけて、摂津西宮(にしのみや)（兵庫県）の戎(えびす)神社を根拠とする集団が勢力をもち、「えびすかき」（夷舁）と称して各地を回ったが、これが浄瑠璃(じょうるり)と結び付いて人形浄瑠璃が発生していった。また一方において大道芸化し、首に人形箱をつるし、その箱の上で人形を操って門付(かどづけ)して歩く首かけ人形芝居が盛行した。江戸時代にはこれが傀儡子（師）芸と目され、幕末まで続いた。「首かけ芝居」「木偶(でく)まわし」「山猫まわし」などともいわれ、その特異な風体は清元の歌舞伎(かぶき)舞踊にいまもみられる。

［西角井正大］

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