Vintage Japanese Wooden Yajirou Toy Train by Niiyama, Tamio | Kijigangu

Sale price$125.00

Dimensions: 6-3/4”h x 8-0”w x 3-1/4”d

Niiyama, Tamio was a traditional Kokeshi craftsman who studied under two family master carvers (Niiyama San and Niiyama Sakyo). This particular piece is exceptionally large for which this type of pull toy was made in various shapes and materials and are among the most ancient toys known in Japan. This vintage Yajirou interactive toy train, referred to as a Kisha for which the creator hail from the small farming village of Yajirou-machi near Kamasaki Onsen in Miyagi Prefecture, once a farming village between two, tall mountains. The kiji-shi, (woodworkers), divided their time between farming and wood-craft and their wives brought these objects to the nearby Kamasaki Onsen to sell their work to tourist staying at the local onsens. 

It is intricately carved and assembled with all the necessary parts to identify it as a train, (boiler, smoke stack, and the engineer with full facial details and hat. It is painted in a veritable rainbow of colors, (red green and purple) which are typical of the Yajirou Family dolls and toys. The artist utilized the Rokoru mono style of decoration incorporating vertical stripes running around the body of the train. The face of the train master incorporates one eyelids with eyebrows and a cat shaped nose. This piece is made from white dogwood, (mazuki). Its wheels and affixed with wooden dowels and turn freely as designed to enable pulling or pushing by the child. There are no other moveable parts. The artist has signed the piece on the back of the train.

See our Vintage Japanese Toy Section for those who want to start or expand their collection, Japanese toys and tops continue to be a sought-after categorized as highly collectible artifacthttps://mingeiarts.com/collections/yajirou-kei-family, as well as our e-book entitled: A Collector’s Guide: Traditional and Creative Kokeshi and Toys: https://mingeiarts.com/collections/our-books/products/a-collectors-guide-traditional-and-creative-kokeshi-and-toys.

Condition: Excellent, unused, mint condition meaning that the piece retains its original craft/workmanship and functions as intended, showing a wonderful-developed patina and is void of damage, cracks, breakage, or repairs and meets all the standards of the collectible Vintage Traditional Kokeshi Toys.