In ningyo joruri, three people work together to make beautifully crafted puppets seem amazingly lifelike. US puppeteer Martin Holman is a devotee of this Japanese performing art, which has around 400 years of history. Nowadays, he leads a troupe of his own in Tokushima Prefecture, home to Awa ningyo joruri. On this episode of Japanophiles, Peter Barakan explores the world of ningyo joruri and learns how Martin Holman is expanding its horizons with the help of performers young and old from several countries.

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