Kokeshi Dolls - Traditional Crafts and Works of Art

After reading a post about Jeanie's trip to Japan and thinking about dolls because Hina Matsuri was celebrated just the other day, I thought it would be a good time to write about Kokeshi dolls.  I've often seen these traditional dolls, but I need to learn about them.

Kokeshi dolls are simple wooden toys without arms or legs that have been crafted by traditional craftsman in the northeastern section of Japan, known as Tohoku. This area is comprised of six prefectures - Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi, and Fukushima, with Miyagi being thought to be the actual origin of the dolls in the 1800's.

According to Wikipedia, there are 11 types of these dolls, based on location.

• Tsuchiyu (土湯系): Tsuchiyu Onsen (Fukushima), Iizaka Onsen (Fukushima), Dake Onsen (Nihonmatsu)
• Yajirō (弥治郎系): Yajirō (Shiroishi)
• Tōgatta (遠刈田系): Tōgatta Onsen (Zaō)
• Naruko (鳴子系): Naruko Onsen (Ōsaki)
• Sakunami (作並系) or Yamagata-Sakunami (山形作並系): Sendai (incl. Sakunami Onsen), Yamagata, Yonezawa, Sagae, Tendō
• Zaō Takayu (蔵王高湯系): Zaō Onsen (Yamagata)
• Hijiori (肘折系): Hijiori Onsen (Ōkura)
• Kijiyama (木地山系): Kijiyama (Yuzawa)
• Nambu (南部系): Morioka, Hanamaki Onsen (Hanamaki)
• Tsugaru (津軽系) or Nuruyu (温湯系): Nuruyu Onsen (Kuroishi), Ōwani Onsen (Ōwani)

Nippon.com lists these 12 types:

1. Tsugaru Style (Aomori)

Tsugaru-style kokeshi are made mainly in Nuruyu Onsen and Ōwani Onsen, in the Tsugaru district of Aomori Prefecture. The head and trunk are carved from a single piece of wood. Many of these kokeshifeature bobbed hair, a cinched waist, and a flared foot similar to a skirt. Painted designs are often daruma, a representation of Bodhidharma, or peonies, the flower on the family crest of the Tsugaru clan.

2. Nanbu Style (Iwate)

This style of kokeshi has a loosely attached head that makes a knocking sound when the doll is moved. The wood on these kokeshi was originally left plain to heighten appreciation of the grain, but painted designs were adopted later, influenced by the Naruko and Tōgatta styles. Produced mainly in the cities of Hanamaki and Morioka in Iwate Prefecture.

3. Kijiyama Style (Akita)

Made from a single piece of wood, this kokeshi has a small, somewhat elongated head with a bobbed hairstyle often topped by a red, ribbonlike decoration. The Kijiyama-style kawatsura variety’s distinctive feature is the striped kimono design on the trunk, although some carry a chrysanthemum or plum blossom design.

4. Naruko Style (Miyagi)

In this style of kokeshi, the head is attached by a peg fitted into the body and makes a squeaking sound when turned. The slightly cinched trunk is decorated with colorful chrysanthemum or momijimaple designs that enhance the doll’s endearing facial expression.

5. Sakunami Style (Miyagi)

This slim variety echoes the item’s original function as an easy-to-grasp children’s toy. The shoulders and foot are turned on a potter’s wheel and the center of the trunk is often decorated with a motif of chrysanthemum with long, thin petals. The only remaining producer of this style in modern-day Sakunami is the Hiraga Kokeshi Shop.

6. Tōgatta Style (Miyagi)

In this style of kokeshi, the head is proportionally larger than the body, and the top of the head is crowned with a red radiating pattern. This showy variety is gaily decorated with either chrysanthemum, plum blossom, or cherry blossom designs. Crescent-moon or almond-shaped eyes give this doll a gently smiling expression.

7. Yajirō Style (Miyagi)

In this style of kokeshi, the head is slightly larger than the trunk and carving tracks overlap on the head, giving it a beretlike appearance. This variety has a slightly concave trunk and the lines depicting the neckline and bottom edge of the bright kimono design are a distinctive feature.

8. Hijiori Style (Yamagata)

While they echo the Naruko and Tōgatta styles, Hijiori-style dolls have a distinctive flavor, their crescent moon-shaped eyes projecting a benign expression. The trunk painted yellow, with squared-off shoulders, is usually decorated with chrysanthemum motifs. Some larger dolls of this type have heads filled with adzuki beans that create a rattling sound.

9. Yamagata Style (Yamagata)

Reputedly created by artisans who had trained in Sakunami, this style of kokeshi is unusual in that the dolls are made in the heart of the city of Yamagata rather than in a hot spring town. With a small head and a slim trunk, they are decorated with plum, cherry blossom, or chrysanthemum motifs and also occasionally with the safflower, the official flower of Yamagata Prefecture.

10. Zaō Takayu Style (Yamagata)

Developed under the influence of the Tōgatta style, this kokeshi is produced in the Yamagata Prefecture cities of Yamagata, Yonezawa, and Tendō in addition to its birthplace of Zaō Onsen. The thick, heavy trunk is slightly cinched toward the bottom and decorated with designs either of overlapping chrysanthemums or cherry blossoms or peonies. A tegara hair ornament represented by red radiating lines adorns the top of the head.

11. Tsuchiyu Style (Fukushima)

This style has a small head and slim trunk. A bull’s-eye design is carved into the top of the head on a wheel lathe, and the forehead features a red kase hair ornament over the fringe. Tsuchiyu-style kokeshi, with elongated noses and tiny red mouths, make a very charming impression. The thin lines on the trunk are brightly painted, and wavy lines, added for variety, are a distinctive feature of this style.

12. Nakanosawa Style (Fukushima)

This style of kokeshi is produced in Nakanosawa Onsen, in the foothills of Mount Bandai. It is eye-catching for its large red-rimmed eyes and broad nose, and the trunk is decorated with peonies or cherry blossoms. Despite its nickname Tako-bōzu, where bōzu means “boy,” this doll is basically female. Unusually for kokeshi dolls, though, there is also Ao-bōzu (“Blue Kid”), a version modeled on a boy.

The National Kokeshi Doll Competition takes place in Shiroishi City, where Kokeshi doll artisans from accross Japan submit their works, according to the Visit Miyagi website.  There doesn't seem to be any current information about the next event, probably because of the pandemic. I have not visited this area of Japan and definitely think I need to!

Have you seen these dolls before?