'Penis Head' Japanese Puppet Makes Appearance On Kids' TV Show, Everyone Giggles

Go ahead and laugh, it's not actually a penis on top of that Japanese puppet's head.

But if you think it looks phallic, you're not alone. After all, the puppet has foreskin-like folds atop its cranium, and it does appear to get erect in front of your very eyes. Or more accurately, in front of the viewership of the kids show that it appeared on.

Consider photographic evidence of the character, which appeared on a rerun of the children's television show "Let's Play in Japanese" earlier this week. More than 4,000 people retweeted this composite image.

According to Kotaku, the puppet is modeled on a character from Japanese folklore, and appeared in a traditional Japanese puppet show called a bunraku that was performed on an episode that first aired in 2012.

A Wikipedia entry on the form notes that bunraku puppets'

"... heads can be quite sophisticated mechanically. In plays with supernatural themes, a puppet may be constructed so that its face can quickly transform into that of a demon. Less complex heads may have eyes that move up and down, side to side or close, and noses, mouths, and eyebrows that move."

While the form may be traditional, this particular application of it definitely struck some Japanese as weird when they saw it. After all, it is a kids' show.