Pray for a Miracle with Kokeshi

"Here comes the World Cup!" - that may ring rather hollow in Japan except mass media.Frankly speaking,the Japanese team is really "underdog" - Japanese like humility but it doesn't always recommend that players give their shots away to each other -often even to opposing team's players - in front of  the goal.But it is not that this is anything new.One of my friends suggested a bet how many points Japan would lose by - I didn't join the bet because "a miracle might happen!" - I pray for a miracle with my kokeshi - doll has been used for amulet which might bring us good luck and protect us from evil or injury.

On the other hand,doll has also been used for tool for "curse" in Japan - there is a horrible doll in Japan,"straw doll",which is literally made of straw.I'm so sorry I can't list its picture because "Unfortunately", I don't have it.

Someone who was horribly betrayed and harmed by his(or her) foe - he makes this doll and drive a long nail into it in the deep of the night,desperately wishing the foe harm.It has an instant strong effect!!! - only in horror films.I remember I would beg my mother to go with me to the toilet at midnight after watching this straw doll cult on films in my childhood - fortunately,now I can go alone.

In addition,doll has been "substitute" for human.We can see this kind of dolls as substitutes or such roles in many ancient burial mounds.

Here is a strange custom even in modern Japan -"Rokuyo",the custom based on an old calender style in Japan.It is formed as one period for six days.Each day has each "meaning" - a certain day is good for all,or another day is bad for all....This custom still remains among Japanese more or less -even among business companies.As major examples,the dates of ceremonies - marriage ceremony or anniversary of the office founding etc. are very often determined based on the calender.

In the calender,there is a day "too bad for funeral ceremony" - according to its custom,to hold funeral on the day means "the departed will take his familiar persons away" -this is also horrible.So still now,most modern Japanese arrange it on another day - but "too busy modern people", if someone must need to hold it on the "too bad day" for inevitable reason,how should he deal with it?

One of the answers is "put doll in the departed coffin" as "substitutes for his familiar persons" -it must be hard to doll.

By the way,the above picture is called "Daruma",this is also a kind of charm or amulet.As you can see,he has no limbs like kokeshi.And the word "Daruma" is sometimes used as a unpleasant metaphor for "helpless" or "stuck" - because a Japanese expression "he can't move even his limbs" means "he can't do anything" in English and Daruma literally "can't move his limbs (needless to say,because of no limbs)".So,I'll really wish with my kokeshi - "Our Japanese team may win at least once! Never be like Daruma!!" -although koekshi also has no limbs.

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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.

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The Origin of Kokeshi_3

Kokeshi as Remainder of a Folk Religion

Kunio Yanagita is the most famous folklorist in Japan,called "the founder of Japanese native folkloristics"."People say",he regarded the origin of kokeshi as worshipped idol rooted mainly in Tohoku region."People say" - actually,I couldn't find the documents on which he clearly said so - Anyway,I'll introduce his "commonly accepted opinion".

Please see this site:"Oshirasama".Here is a picture(enlarged by click) and a summary of it.This is a kind of folk religion in Tohoku.As mentioned here,it is generally known as "a tutelary of the home (ie no kami)"(*1),a kind of guardian angels,and had been worshipped mainly in "Japan's northeastern region"(*1),Tohoku.And "The object of Oshirasama worship generally consists of a pair of sticks of mulberry (occasionally bamboo) about 30 cm long, with male and female faces (or a horse's head) carved or painted in ink on one end.The images are clothed in layers of cloth called osendaku which are added to each year"(*1).This folk religion had prevailed before Edo Era(17th-19th),and still now remains in a few villages in Tohoku.

The points are following:

1. There was an old folk religion,idol worship rooted in Tohoku
2. It had prevailed before Edo era(17th-19th)
3. The idol is just a wooden(or bamboo) stick -it has no limbs

So,"he regarded the origin of kokeshi as 'Oshirasama'".Most people accepted this opinion because it met the most usual deduction "as there had been dolls alike to kokeshi before,the people could accepted latecomer odd-shaped kokeshi easily"(cf.The origin of Kokeshi_2).It also cover the key elements of the question "Why did the people in Tohoku in Edo era accepted dolls with no limbs?"

Find Catalytic Effect

I said his above opinion is "commonly accepted opinion" - because he seemed to have another view on the origin of kokeshi.I'll summarily introduce the excerpt from one of his books:

"Originally,dolls were just simple stick like 'Oshirasama'.Now,there are wooden baby's pacifiers(dummies) made with rokuro,which are a kind of kokeshi.Maybe these(baby's pacifiers or kokeshi) also have the same origin - simple stick"(*2).

And he said "(Such)sticks were originally worshipped objects in the ancient times.They prevailed all around Japan." in other chapters of this book.

Here are some examples.

I really wish you never see them in your dream - I would also think these were quite creepy when I met them for the first time.

These were called "kubi-ningyo" or "kushi-ningyo",literally "head-dolls" or "skewer-dolls".They had prevailed all around Japan in Edo era.The kids of those days played with these dolls - what a fertile imagination!! (they didn't feel creepy?) They often played dress-up with these dolls - 'Oshirasama' was also dressed.And,needless to say,they are quite stick-like.

What did he think about the origin of kokeshi at all -"Oshirasama-origin" or "stick-worship-origin"? In the latter case,this is as same as "the theory of ancient doll-origin" or "the theory of phalluses or some such-origin" which I criticized on the last post - "open-ended".

Honestly,he seems to have thought,"it's not my business!".I heard he criticized some kokeshi authorities as "just kokeshi addicts" - that's quite right because he was a folklorist,not a kokeshi mania.His essential interest was the discovery of hidden history or social structure through folklore or customs in Japan,not pedantic knowledge collecting.

After all,In my opinion,this kind of approach - "as there had been dolls alike to kokeshi before,the people could accepted latecomer kokeshi easily" - has its own limitations.It seem just like the following Q's and As:"Why does water exist?" "Because oxygen and hydrogen exist" - this is not incorrect,but doesn't give any information about its combining process or contributing factors.And "what is the origin of kokeshi?" - if this question deserves to be discussed,it will need to explain such dynamic factors - just like catalytic substances in chemical reactions.In that respect,Alan Booth is more persuasive -he tried to explain it in terms of social circumstances of those days in Japan.

As for the opinion of "Oshirasama-origin",I can only say "it's possible".It seems to suggest its spontaneous arising.But again,I think,"Is it really seamless between just stick dolls and kokeshi?" - dolls crafted deliberately by using rokuro,a lathe for woodworking -this is my primary concern with this matter "dolls made by using rokuro" - there had not been so many woodworkers(kijishi) using rokuro at that time.

It's about time to finish the journey of finding the ancestors of kokeshi.Next time,I'll introduce another approach to this matter,it is mainly based on economic circumstances in Tohoku of those days.

(*1)"Oshirasama" http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=221

(*2)Kunio Yanagita,"Kodomo Hudoki"(こども風土記),Iwanami Shoten,1976

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This is the thoroughbred!

Miharu Goma

Last week I went to Fukushima -a part of Tohoku region,which includes Tsuchiyu town(cf."Tsuchiyu kokeshi(1)").Though I couldn't visit workshops of kokeshi because of short business trip,fortunately I could get an another craft which I had wanted.

Please remember that they are HORSES! I remember I had a bitter experience when I met them in a famous museum for the first time -I said loudly to my wife,"Look! How cool these DOGS!!"

They are generally called "Miharu Goma"(or "Miharu Koma") 三春駒,formally called "Takashiba Kinma".The word "Koma" originally means horses.Since ancient times,Tohoku had been well known as the fine horse-breeding centre in Japan,and Miharu town had been a part of its centre.This horse-shaped wooden art craft came from this historical background.The people accepted it as a kind of lucky charm to help their children to be strong like horses -the horse was the symbol of strength in Japan at that time.

Who is Gorgeous?

The shop where I bought them has been over the centuries.Of-course,its art crafts has been still handmade from woodcarving to painting.I really admire that the shop owner-cum-craftsman and his ancestors has been keeping their tradition alive -even though they has been just a local art craft and never been as popular as kokeshi.The shop owner said,"We have improved and still now are improving our crafts." -So,they have bred the "thoroughbreds".

By the way,when I confessed to him that I had mistaken them for dogs,he replied to me with much laughter,"Somewhat you're right because the old type Miharu Koma had longer legs than the modern type.".At the same time,he didn't forget to add,"but have you ever seen such a dog with a saddle and a snaffle bit and a bridle?"

If he had worn a blinker hood or a paddle clothe with number,I could have identified him as a horse...but can I really say that? I know some dogs wear more gorgeous dress and adornments than these koma -recent Japanese pet boom.And that always worries me -my wife might ask me for a pearl necklace whenever she looks at these dogs...

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