Mingei Arts

One of Japan’s most popular and internationally known artists, Masao Watanabe, created this beautiful doll: “Chigo Sakura”: Cherry Blossom Girl. Watanabe-san was born in 1917, and he made award-winning kokeshi up until a few years before his death in 2007. Watanabe has a impressive collection in the Nuremberg Toy Museum, Germany. This doll is made of Mizuki wood, [...]

This is a very unique sub-strain of the traditional family of Tsuchiyu kokeshi. These large-eyed and rosy-cheeked dolls with big noses are now considered a separate class of Kokeshi within the Tsuchiyu group. Almost always decorated with bright, colorful chrysanthemums (kiku), their faces are based on a story of a street dancer who used a [...]

Tomokazu was born in Kijimachi, Gifu. When he was 17 years of age, he went to work for a reputable family named Shibata. He loved carving and devoted all his spare time to the use of the carving knife or the writing brush. Tomokazu eventually specialized in carving netsuke and became well known in Kyoto [...]

The Sosaku style Kokeshi dolls literally means “Creative Creations” and they are a type of wooden doll made by turning on a lathe. Sosaku craftsman express a certain theme through the creation of their dolls. This wonderful Kokeshi is the snow coat style in which her clothing is in black, with her contrasting natural color face and reddish-brown muffler [...]

Snuff bottles were used in Asia to contain powdered tobacco. During the sixteenth century, smoking tobacco was illegal, but the use of snuff was allowed because Asians considered snuff to be a remedy for common illnesses. Snuff therefore was carried in small bottles like other medicines, and the more delicate the carving, material and container, the [...]

An exceptional en-suite Japanese carved wooden pipe case and pipe (kiseru zutsu), with carved and lacquered wooden horse netsuke and lacquer/brass lined bead, (Ojime). The reticulated case is beautifully and deeply carved, and depicts the God of Wind (Fojin), and the God of Thunder (Kaminari), with their eyes inlaid with mother of pearl and horn; their wild [...]

This exceptionally LARGE Kokeshi is in beautiful original condition. This type of doll is called “squeaking child”, and was made of two pieces, with the head being attached to the body via a snap-in projection, allowing it to be turned, thus making a ‘squeak’. They originally came from Narugo Onsen in Miyagi Prefecture. Matsuda-san was [...]

This particular kokeshi is named Machi-Haru, which is written on the side (Spring Time) and has the traditional squared off hair design with kansashi hairpiece on top. She is beautifully proportioned with a gentle face. The decorations on her kimono are pink cherry blossoms, green pine, and bamboo (which are the good luck symbols of [...]