What is true about the mechanical dolls known as Karakuri Ningyo?

Karakuri Ningyo is a mechanical puppet from Japan. One type of puppet, the Zashiki, is used to serve tea to guests during a tea party, rolling across the table, offering tea, and then returning to its original location with the empty cup.

What is a karakuri in Japanese?

The word karakuri can be translated as automaton or hidden mechanism, “trick” (as in “magic”) to produce a sense of wonder. The word, ningyō, which means puppet, also covers a variety of automata whose origins are linked to the development of clockworks and mechanisms from 16th and 17th century Japan.

What are the main types of karakuri?

Three categories of Karakuri emerged: Zashiki karakuri (“reception room dolls”) were used in the home, while Dashi karakuri (“festival cart dolls”) were used during religious festivals and Butai karakuri (“theatre dolls”) took to the stage.

What are Karakuri Ningyo made of?

They were originally articles of luxury for feudal lords during the Edo period. Zashiki is considered the most technically intricate and precious of all forms of Karakuri. The most famous were produced in the mid to late Edo period with Western clockwork mechanisms, though sand, mercury and even steam power were used.

What are karakuri wind up dolls?

The mechanical dolls of the Edo period, called karakuri ningyō, were the starting point of Japan’s love affair with robots. The intricate clockwork motors inside dolls create playful, realistic movements that capture the imagination and inspire affection.

What is karakuri Kaizen?

Karakuri Kaizen is a mechanical device that generally improves work. The device uses only mechanical gadgetry, and shuns electric, hydraulic, or pneumatic power. It is also not controlled by a computer but rather by the design of the mechanics.

What is karakuri automation?

Karakuri is an automation mechanism that was invented in Japan. For decades, Karakuri has been a central element of the lean philosophy, where it refers to the simple but intelligent automation of processes based on physical principles – with no drives, sensors, electricity or compressed air.

What is Karakuri Kaizen?

When were Karakuri dolls invented?

Mechanical karakuri dolls were first made around the end of the Edo period, in the early 1800s. They developed into three main types: Matsuri karakuri for festivals, riding on floats that are pulled through the streets or doing their stuff on a stage, adding artistic flair to the religious mood of the festival.