The Origin of Kokeshi_4

Kokeshi as the Symbol of Poorness?

"Economic circumstances in Tohoku" - whenever discussing this topic,there always comes a word - "Tohoku was poor".It also often implies the following message - "That was all there was to it".But I'll follow my grandmother's suggestion which she gave to me when watching TV commentator's comment on a volent crime - "it's not so good to blame everything on poverty".

Some people say,"Tohoku region of those days was poor and underdeveloped area.Such simple dolls were attributed to its backwardness".

This opinion - I'll call it "the poor-has-no-leisure-theory" - is so simple and clear,and still robust.I also like simple and clear discussion - as long as it is convincing. So,is this convincing?

Please see this link's pictures.These are called "Gosyo-Ningyo",traditional Kyoto-dolls.
They are more realistic and sophisticated than kokeshi.Moreover,some of them are still painfully expensive! In my childhood,about more than 30 years ago,they were a kind of status symbols - I remember some well-off girls boasted about these dolls at school during Hinamatsuri,Girls'Day(Festival) in Japan.My mother would often say,"Thanks God,my three kids are all boys!!" - indeed,I didn't need anything but a set of bat and mitt and ball in my childhood.

Actually,it takes so much time and cost to craft them -these are all wood carving dolls covered with much "Paris white and flour gold".They were basically carved by hand with chisels or knives.They appeared in 15th,and became famous as the most up-scale art crafts dolls in 17th - that is,they are much more traditional than kokeshi.Viewed in this light,"the poor-has-no-leisure-theory" seems quite convincing.

But before concluding it,please see below picture.

Apart from her look to the right - although I think her face is humorous and some funny,but charming - these dolls are called "Miharu-Ningyo",papier-mache dolls with wooden frame.They are also wood carving dolls -however,covered with much "paper" instead of much "Paris white and flour gold" of Kyoto-dolls.

Actually,I think they were "reasonable-edition" of Kyoto-dolls - they had been promoted as one of local industrial developments.Although they might come short of "the glory of Kyoto-Dolls" regarding the degree of sophistication or luxuriousness,still more realistic than kokeshi.And the more important is,its production area,Miharu is located in Tohoku region.They had been crafted in Tohoku from the late of 18th.

There already existed many realistic and fancy dolls in many areas in Japan(cf."Japanese traditional dolls#The_Edo_period" from wikipedia) -including Tohoku region.I'll list another link with pictures of such dolls in Tohoku as some another examples(note:described in only Japanese).
Is "the poor-has-no-leisure-theory" really convincing?

Kokeshi as Woodturning Doll

Even still,some can say,"we accept the point that there were skills of doll crafts in Tohoku of those days.But we think these dolls were intended for other areas,not for its local consumption because common people in Tohoku was so poor".

That might be the case.But to various degrees,I think that might be the case in other areas as well -commoners kids of those days played with just simple stick dolls as Kunio Yanagita,a folklorist said(cf."The Origin of Kokeshi_3").

I wrote on Kyoto-dolls above - "they were basically carved by hand with chisels or knives" - so were most other dolls -except kokeshi."Kokeshi was crafted with rokuro,lathe" - the reason why this has been especially emphasized is due to its unique craft process among many dolls in Japan.
In addition,I'm interested in another historic aspect - kokeshi was latecomer among Japanese traditional dolls as above -according to commonly accepted records,the start of its production was "no more than" early 19th -moreover,I haven't even heard the news that the relics of such earlier kokeshi were discovered.

(I even think that the main motivation of "discovering kokeshi ancestors" might be based on the "wish" - kokeshi itself could have long history.But - is that really essential to its appreciation?)

So again,I really wonder -"why woodworkers of those days in Tohoku crafted dolls with no limbs by using rokuro,while there already existed many dolls with limbs even in Tohoku?" Alan Booth explained it from recipients' side - common people in Tohoku,but I'll do so from providers'side -kijishi,woodworkers.
Although it may be much materialistic and much duller in comparison with his elegant and elegiac description.