The Master Puppeteer

The Master Puppeteer (1975) is a historical novel for children by Katherine Paterson. It won the 1977 U.S. National Book Award in category Children’s Literature.^[1]

Synopsis

The Master Puppeteer is at once a fascinating introduction to the complex artistry of the Japanese puppet theater, a gripping historical novel, a mystery, and a study of friendship and loyalty. The novel follows the adventures of thirteen-year-old Jiro, who finds himself caught up in the political events of late eighteenth century Osaka, Japan. When Jiro accompanies his father, Hanji, to deliver a puppet to the Hanaza theater, Yoshida, the owner and master puppeteer, offers to take the boy on as an apprentice. To Jiro’s chagrin, his mother, Isako, does not take Yoshida’s offer seriously. Determined not to be a burden on his family during the current famine, Jiro runs away to the theater, where he becomes an apprentice; he begins his career by opening curtains and memorizing scripts and eventually graduates to a role as a “foot operator.” Along the way, he is helped by an older boy, Yoshida’s son, Kinshi, who does not seem able to please his father.

Worried about his father, who is said to be ill, Jiro briefly returns home to discover that Isako has taken his father to recuperate at a relative’s farm in Kyoto. When Jiro again returns home on New Year’s Day, he discovers that his mother is near starvation. One evening, Saburo, the mysterious bandit who steals from the rich to help the poor, leaves a notice on the door of the theater demanding a special performance of the current play, “The Thief of the Tokaido.”

Characters

• Jiro: the protagonist who apprentices himself at the Hanaza; he is a clumsy 13-year-old. He was cursed when he was born. He is always very hungry.
• Hanji: Jiro's father, a craftsman who makes puppets for a living; he is utmost serene.
• Isako: Jiro's grouchy mother; she blames Jiro for the deaths of his two brothers and sister.
• Yoshida: the puppet master of the Hanaza; he has a nasty attitude, and beats Kinshi with a bamboo stick.
• Kinshi: Yoshida's son who tutors Jiro in the way of the puppet.
• "Saburo": a bandit who robs rice and money from the rich to feed the poor.
• Okada: the blind, wise reciter at the theater; he plays a part as Saburo.
• Taro: Jiro's neighbor's son, Jiro finds Taro at Jiro's house when his parents are gone.
• Mochida: young boy who works at the theater; chief left-handed operator; oversees the chores and practices of the other boys

References