It is uncertain how these little wooden dolls came to be, but the kokeshi dolls of Japan have a warm association to the Japanese spirit and culture. Made from wood and hand-carved in a simple design, the kokeshi dolls are most often seen in the classic Naruko style from the north-eastern region of Japan where they are believed to have originated. There are 10 styles in all, throughout Japan, and all are hand-crafted with the utmost care.
Kokeshi Doll Designs
All kokeshi dolls are made from wood and usually carved from a single piece of wood. The basic shapes are shared among all 10 styles, with a large, round head and straight body. All kokeshi dolls have the plain body without added arms or legs, but the bodies may be carved with a stylized silhouette by some artists. The straight body shape is seen as particularly feminine in Japanese traditional culture, reminiscent of the female form in a kimono, in which the kimono would smooth the body contours for a more straight appearance.
The hand-painted kokeshi dolls often have black and red detailing, although other colors are sometimes seen as well. The face generally features a simple line-style design, as opposed to more detailed eyes and facial features, and this tends to give the kokeshi dolls a gentle appearance. Hair is painted on, sometimes only around the frame of the face.
Suggested Origins
Historians have suggested different possible origins for the kokeshi dolls. An interesting fact is, there are no real kokeshi doll antiques. The dolls are made, but then most are destroyed in a ceremony in September.
One possible suggested origin involves the traditional craftsman in the north-east regions of Japan. During a difficult winter, the wood craftsman began making dolls to sell as souvenirs to visitors of the local hot springs, as a way to increase income for survival.
In his book, “Looking for the Lost,” writer Alan Booth suggests that the infant-like dolls were created to serve as a sort of “stand-in” after killing an unwanted baby. He offers the pairing of Kanji to form the word “kokeshi” using the characters for “child” and “erase” – but this is not strongly supported by others because there are other ways to create the word “kokeshi” using the characters for “wood” or “small” and “doll.”
The name, however, has been written in basic hiragana script since August 1939, when the hiragana spelling was officially settled upon at the National Kokeshi Exhibition in Naruko, Japan.
Mountain Spirits and Children
The kokeshi dolls are sometimes associated with mountain spirits, probably because they are made from wood. It is believed that children exist in a “gray area” between the human world and the spirit world, and the kokeshi dolls were often given to young children with the suggested reasoning that they were closest to the spirit realm so it made sense to place a mountain spirit-doll in their possession. When the children grew, the mountain spirits were returned to the mountains through burning the kokeshi dolls. The smoke travels up to the mountains, bringing the spirits home.
National Kokeshi Festival
Every year in Japan, there is a National Kokeshi Festival in the Naruko area involving the Naruko hot springs and local shrine. This is a popular destination for tourists. Local artists present a large number of their finest kokeshi dolls to the shrine as an offering, with hope that the spirits (kami) will accept the offering and the artists will make even more exquisite kokeshi dolls in the following year.
The artists also put on demonstrations at the local elementary school, which is important for the younger generations. As with all of Japan’s traditional arts, if the younger generations don’t continue the traditions, those traditions will become extinct. There is also a parade and a fire for burning the old kokeshi dolls. This tradition of burning the kokeshi dolls is likely the reason behind the lack of antique kokeshi dolls.
Interestingly, the Mii avatars used with the Nintendo Wii game system are modeled after traditional kokeshi dolls. Note the head and body shape, and the striking resemblance during gameplay with games such as Wii Sports (when the arms are separate from the body!).
Kokeshi Doll Craft
The link below is a PDF website page that you can print. Color in your own kokeshi doll, then cut it out and glue or tape the left-side flap to the right-side to form a round shape. Although it’s not the same as a wooden kokeshi doll, paper is still technically in the “wood” family. Enjoy!
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