Jiro

Jiro is the main character of the story. The story is told from his point of view. Jiro is the son of Hanji, a puppet maker who sells his puppets to the Hanaza puppet theater. Jiro's mother is Isako, a grumpy woman who seems to resent that her son was even born. She constantly criticizes him, and all Jiro wants is to prove his worth to her and gain her love again. Hanji treats Jiro with more respect and tries to involve him in his trade. When Jiro makes mistakes he tries to encourage him rather than criticize him. Jiro loves both his parents and his very loyal to them. He is concerned with being a good son, and berates himself when he feels like he is letting them down. When it becomes clear that there is not enough food for the whole family to live on, Jiro...