A small museum located on the outskirts of Kyoto, the Arashiyama Orgel Museum , maintains a collection of some mechanized European counterparts to traditional karakuri puppets.  European automatons are also featured at Atelier du Clos des Moines, a web site in France with links to other similar sites on the continent -- altogether making for some fascinating comparisons between East and West. 

The well-regarded architect Kisho Kurokawa has some very interesting things about the impact of these traditional mechanical figures on modern attitudes in Japan towards robotics -- take a look at the chapter entitled "The Philosophy of Karakuri" in his on-line book length discussion of the Philosophy of Symbiosis.

Judy Shoaf (from the University of Florida and webmaster for Japanese American Doll Enthusiasts -- J.A.D.E.) maintains an excellent web page on dolls from Japan which includes an annotated discussion on Puppets and Mechanical Dolls. Her page includes as well three online illustrated essays discussing dolls in The Tale of Genji, as collectables in the West and as reflections of life in the "Floating World" of Late Traditional / Early Modern Japanese history -- all well worth reading.

Japan Excetera also maintains a nicely illustrated web site discussing traditional dolls from Japan.