Tokyo kokeshi dolls? Yes!

Mr. Kuninobu Okura in his Hachioji workshop.

The kokeshi tradition is firmly rooted in the six prefectures of northeastern Japan, called Tohoku (東北) in Japanese. There is also a strong, though more recent, kokeshi-making tradition in Gunma prefecture and a few other places. However, apart from a vague mention that Naoko found on line, we have never seen a printed reference, in Japanese or English, talking about a Tokyo kokeshi tradition. Intrigued by the on-line mention of "Tokyo kokeshis," on February 7th Naoko, daughter Emily and I decided to seek out a kokeshi maker located in the western Tokyo city of Hachioji (八王子). 

Turning a Tokyo kokeshi.

The Tokyo Kokeshi workshop lies about 14km south of our home, and after some complicated twists and turns typical of the western Tokyo road system, we finally found it tucked away on a residential Hachioji street. As can be seen in the photos, Mr. Kuninobu Okura has a small workshop consisting of a lathe and pieces of wood. Logically, he heats his shop with an old-fashioned wood burning stove that was nearly red hot! Mr. Okura welcomed us in, explained his kokeshi style, and then showed and how he makes his dolls by quickly creating one on his lathe in just a couple of minutes. The Tokyo kokeshis that Mr. Okura makes are definitely unique, and are turned from a single piece of wood rather than the typical head and body construction of traditional kokeshis. The head is either round like a ball, or else tiny with a huge bulb of hair (?) on top. The neck is very thin, while the body is vase-shaped and balances out the head. The most interesting part is probably the signature "necklace" that Mr. Okura makes while trimming down the neck and upper torso. As he explains in his English-language pamphlet, "The necklace or ring called "wa" (輪) in Japanese, is to symbolize happiness "shiawase" (幸せ), using the same sound." Pretty cool.

Tokyo Kokeshi shop in Hachioji.

Tokyo Kokeshi interior.

Tokyo Kokeshi signboard.

Mr. Okura does not sell his kokeshis out of his workshop. Rather, he and his wife have a small shop called -- what else? -- "Tokyo kokeshi" (東京こけし) a few blocks away selling their own Tokyo kokeshis, traditional wooden Japanese toys from northeastern Japan, a variety of Japanese traditional wooden tops (こま), and some imported items from Asia. Mrs. Okura paints the kokeshis with various flower patterns, and they are really quite simple and pleasing. Notably, the style is raw wood without varnish. We bought a round-headed one painted with a wisteria for 1,050 yen, as well as tops for the kids, and a delightful traditional Daruma wooden toy for Naoko. Another successful Kokeshi Adventure!

Tokyo kokeshis. Note the tops in the background. Mr. Okura make those too.

Tokyo kokeshis -- variety. We bought the fourth one from the left.