a Japanese form of puppet theatre in which the puppets are usually about four feet high, with moving features as well as limbs and each puppet is manipulated by up to three puppeteers who remain onstage
Word origin
C20: Japanese
bunraku in American English
(ˈbʊnˈrɑˌku)
US
noun
a form of puppet show in Japan with nearly life-size puppets, each operated by two or three on-stage puppeteers, while dialogue and narration are spoken by performers just offstage
Word origin
Jpn, after U. Bunrakuken, 19th-c. reviver of the traditional puppet show