Hirosaki Kokeshi 弘前のこけし

After leaving Okuse's kokeshi workshop in Kuroishi City (see previous blog) we headed east out of the hills toward downtown Hirosaki City 弘前市, a beautiful old castle town. Right next to the castle ruins is the Hirosaki Neputa Kan 弘前ねぷた館, a centralized cultural heritage center for the arts of Tsugaru, from kite makers, weavers, and musicians, to a couple of kokeshi makers. Of course we went there to meet the kokeshi makers, but I must say that the Hirosaki Nebuta Kan is a first-rate destination for all sorts of traditional arts from this part of Japan.    

External view of the Hirosaki Neputa Kan.

I'll let the photos below tell the story, but we did meet two kokeshi makers of the Tsugaru tradition from the Owani Onsen 大鰐温泉 branch: Mr. Hasegawa Kenzo 長谷川健三さん and son Mr. Hasegawa Masashi 長谷川優志さん both of whom live in Hirosaki and do their work in the Neputa Kan. A number of traditional handicrafts are alive in the Tsugaru region, and the Neputa Kan showcases and supports them. Really a great idea, and the fact that a section is devoted to kokeshis shows the importance of that craft. Of course we bought a couple of Hasegawa kokeshis that grace our collection, and as always it was fun to talk with the makers.
Our summer kokeshi adventure was continuing splendidly! 

Interior view where many of the artisans are located. Really a great idea.

Lena and Emily chatting with a kite maker. Kites and kite art are a Hirosaki tradition.

Hasegawa Kenzo at his workshop right in the heart of the Hirosaki Neputa Kan facility.

Observing the younger Hasegawa at his lathe. You have to love that noren 暖簾 hanging in the doorway.

Hasegawa Masashi turning out a kokeshi on his lathe.

A shelf of Hasegawa kokeshis.

A small army of Hasegawa kokeshis. I bought one of the tall ones in the back, which the elder Hasegawa considers his masterpiece.

Darumas are part of the kokeshi tradition and they always make me laugh. These are unique and fantastic.

Mr. Hasegawa shows off some of his tops to Lena. He has invented a 3-piece top that works great.

Kokeshis on display, as well as cords of wood that will someday become kokeshis. The dolls on the top were not for sale  by the way.

All hand painted -- simply amazing craftsmanship.

Kuroishi Kokeshi 黒石のこけし

The heartland of Aomori Prefecture's kokeshi tradition is the northwest area, known by its traditional name Tsugaru 津軽 where the Tsugaru-type 津軽系 kokeshi originated. They are easy to spot with the Ainu pattern near the neckline, a clearly defined female waist and chest, and often the Buddhist saint Daruma's 達磨 face at the base. Although there is of course variety among the makers' works, when you see a true Tsugaru kokeshi you know it immediately. 

Our drive to get to Kuroishi took us past Mt. Hakkoda 八甲田山 and through these smaller mountains. It was pretty wild in this area.

Our summer adventure plan was to stay at an onsen town in the hills above Kuroishi City 黒石市, which I'll explain in an upcoming blog. Meanwhile, on 23 June we were driving through the Mt. Hakkoda 八甲田山 National Park on a day trip and realized that we were actually pretty close to Kuroishi, so why not head down and see if we could find some kokeshi makers? After going up and down some pretty steep roads, stopping at a centuries old onsen for lunch (Sukayu Onsen 酸ヶ湯温泉 where I feasted on a plate of absolutely succulent fried scallops), and meandering through seemingly primeval forests, we finally broke through into Kuroishi where we were greeted by a giant Tsugaru kokeshi up on a pedestal that said "welcome to Kuroishi." Well thank you very much for that warm welcome Kuroishi City! We were definitely in the right place.

After our long drive over the mountains we knew we were getting close when this giant Tsugaru kokeshi greeted us.

It turned out that we were fairly close to the workshop of Ms. Okuse Yoko 奥瀬陽子さん, a well-known Tsugaru kokeshi maker. You see, her late husband Mr. Okuse Tetsunori 奥瀬鉄則さん was the protege of Mr. Mori Hidetaro 盛秀太郎さん who created the original Tsugaru kokeshi. Mr. Okuse husband continued it, and now she and her son Keisuku 恵介さん are the current generation of that kokeshi line. Anyway, after a few wrong turns we eventually found her place, an old wooden house covered in vines. Definitely the kind of place where an artist would live.

The Okuse home and workshop.  It wasn't easy to find, so future visitors are forewarned. 

Interestingly, Ms. Okuse did not start making kokeshis until November 1994, a couple of years after her husband passed away, while Keisuke began in 2000. They must have kokeshi blood flowing in their veins because their work is of the highest quality and is sought after by collectors. In fact when we showed up at their workshop there really wasn't anything available. Rather, they take orders from a catalogue of their pieces, a pretty interesting way to do it.

Some Okuse pieces. Her craftsmanship and family designs are of the highest quality in my opinion. 

Ms. Okuse and Keisuke welcomed Naoko right in while I snoozed in the car with the kids -- the drive through the mountains was exhausting -- and I have no idea how long she was in the house. Eventually I went in to say hello, and sure enough I had entered into a kokeshi workshop. I have to admit, though, that it was surprising to find that there weren't really any Okuse kokeshis for sale! Oh well. Naoko bought a copy of their catalogue, which also contains good info on the history of the Tsugaru kokeshi tradition, and then we said goodbye. This was a small kokeshi adventure since we managed to meet two craftsmen, but have to admit it was something of a disappointment not to bring any Okuse pieces home. Next time for sure!

That's the Okuse's kokeshi collection in the back, which was started by the late Mr. Okuse. The five small ones in the front were for sale, but we decided to pass and wait to get an Okuse piece that really stuck out at us.

Lena getting to know Ms. Okuse.

One of Kuroishi City's manhole covers, located on the street right outside Ms. Okuse's house. One sees unique manhole covers in just about every city, a part of Japan I like, and something you can see only if you look down once in a while. 

National Kokeshi Festival Part 7 全国こけし祭りパート7

I've probably overdone our Naruko trip over the last six blogs, but we saw so much kokeshi goodness during this adventure that I've felt compelled to share it all. Now this blog -- which will be the last about Naruko (at least until we return in the future) -- is not really about the festival at all. Here's what happened. We left the festival in the afternoon and headed up past the ski resort and Kakizawa Kokeshi until we arrived at a small crater lake called Katanuma 潟沼. This was the real thing -- sulfur smell and milky blue in color -- reminding us that we were probably sitting on top of a giant volcano. There we met a fellow American who told us about a geyser further into the mountains. A geyser? Really? My interest was piqued, so we went to see it and sure enough there was a geyser which about every eight minutes or so shot hot water about 30-40 feet into the air, and when the wind blew just right we were hit with hot mist. True. While not exactly in the same league as Old Faithful, it was still pretty cool.

Sign for the Naruko Kokeshi Museum. We didn't get to go, but maybe next time.

Meanwhile dear kokeshi fans, as we were driving to the geyser we saw a sign for a kokeshi museum. I have to admit that we had seen so many kokeshis by this point that our interest in seeing thousands more was pretty low, so we settled for taking a picture of the sign. As we drove down the hill, however, two giant Naruko kokeshis beckoned us to stop at the Iwashita Kokeshi Shiryokan 岩下こけし資料館, a sort of museum/large gift shop. What the heck I thought, since I needed a can of coffee and it was a good chance for a restroom break. Well, I'm glad we stopped because the place was fantastic. In fact if we hadn't just spent two days of non-stop kokeshi-ing (can I say that?) Iwashita would have been a major highlight.

One of Iwashita's two mega-kokeshis. You can't miss it if driving on Route 47.

The museum part is basically a one-room display area covering origins, tools (you'd be surprised at the complexity of the a kokeshi-makers tools), a map showing where kokeshis come from, and so forth. There was even a foot-powered lathe on display. I think the tool part was the best, while the all-Tohoku kokeshi display looked like it had been completely knocked over during the earthquake in March. Why haven't they been put back up where they belong? Meanwhile, back in the display area was Ms. Yusa Taeko 遊佐妙子さん painting a number of her Naruko kokeshis. I did not get to talk to her, but according to Iwashita's web site there are a number of associated artisans who regularly show up and demonstrate kokeshi making.

Welcome signs with kokeshi art.

Ms. Yusa Taeko painting some of her kokeshis. Note her T-shirt -- that's a kokeshi mascot. 

Christmas kokeshis. I know these would be really popular in America.

The kokeshi display has seen better days. I would guess they were sitting on those shelves until March 11th, 2011.

An interactive display where one presses a button beneath a kokeshi to find its location of origin on the map.

In the gift shop. Everything in here is kokeshi-related.

More.

Kokeshi lucky cats 招き猫. Very creative. I also liked the cone shaped kokeshi in the back.

Boxed kokeshi snacks of various sorts such as senbei and cookies.

Kokeshi alcohol.

Inside the display area.

A foot-powered lathe.

Some kokeshi-making tools. Naoko has learned that the artisans have to make their own tools.

More tools for crafting kokeshis.

Chopstick and kokeshi boxed sets. Well, why not?

Of course there were plenty of Naruko kokeshis for sale.

If there was ever at time I believed that kokeshis did not need their own mascot character, I was wrong. 

These were either drink stirrers or ear picks. I can't remember which.

Kokeshi spoons.

Iwashita's other mega-kokeshi. The sun finally came out right before I took this shot.

A whole mess of kokeshi cell phone straps.

Overall, I highly recommended a visit to Iwashita Kokeshi Shiryokan if you're ever in Naruko. Here is a link (in Japanese) to Iwashita for more information: http://www.iwashita.info/

Another kokeshi adventure completed.

National Kokeshi Festival Part 6 全国こけし祭りパート6

Day two of the National Kokeshi Festival was a lot like day one of the festival, which was fine. There was a Naruko Town fire truck outside the main hall that was decked out with some nice kokeshi art, and the firefighters who came with the truck managed to dragoon my eight year old into trying CPR on the practice dummy. Although not kokeshi related (apart from the fire truck's artwork),  that was fairly educational. Inside the auditorium there was another demonstration of the foot-powered lathe of which I am still extremely impressed. Of course it's not the lathe so much as the expert working it, but the machine is so primitive that it was jaw-dropping to see the high quality kokeshis the craftsmen were turning out on it. We bought a couple of small ones made on that lathe, so I can personally attest to their quality and beauty.
The highlight of day two, though, had to have been seeing the results of the national kokeshi competition, the winners of which were displayed on the auditorium's stage. I noticed that there were actually a lot of awards, though I'm not sure it's the case that every kokeshi maker who enters wins something. Undoubtedly this moment is the pinnacle of kokeshi-dom, as it were, so it really is a must-see event for all enthusiasts. It has to be huge for the craftsmen as well.
Overall, the National Kokeshi Festival was a grade-A installment in our on-going kokeshi adventures!

A view of the "main street" of the kokeshi festival. 

Naruko type kokeshi maker Mr. Hayasaka Toshiyori 早坂利成さん working on a kokeshi head on the foot-powered lathe.

This was made on the foot-powered lathe. It took awhile to make, but as can be seen it's perfect.

This year's winning kokeshis. 

More winners. 

And more.

And still more. The sign on top says The 57th National Kokeshi Festival Winning Pieces.  The lower sign behind the Tsugaru kokeshi says "These aren't for sale." Too bad.

Another view of some winners. The Naruko kokeshi in the foreground, by Mr. Kakizawa Yoshinobu 柿澤是伸さん (the son from the family's shop we visited the previous day), won the Naruko Onsen Tourism Association President's award.   

Four beautiful Naruko kokeshis by Mr. Sakurai Akihiro 桜井昭寛さん, whose shop Naoko visited briefly the previous day. These items were reserved, but I'm not sure how the system worked.  

Beautiful reserved-sale Yajiro kokeshis 弥治郎系 by Mr. Niiyama Manabu 新山学さん of Shiroishi City 白石市 in Miyagi Prefecture.  Shiroishi is also a well-known kokeshi-making town that, sadly, has been contaminated somewhat by the Fukushima disaster.

These exquisite Naruko kokeshis have unusually realistic faces that appear to be looking up slightly as a child might. That's a neat effect. Again, they were on reserved sale. Interestingly, the maker, Mr. Matsutani Shinkichi 松谷伸吉さん, is not located in Naruko onsen but in Shimane Prefecture 島根県?  

We can tell that the kokeshi on the left is a Yajiro kokeshis 弥治郎系 because of the rings on the head. However, I'm unsure of the craftsman. It's a fantastic piece though. 

A number of kokeshikas コケーシカ (kokeshi+ matryoshka) on display at the festival. Matryoshkas are, of course, the famous Russian nesting dolls, though it seems that back in the 19th century the Russians were directly influenced by the Japanese nesting doll tradition. So these Japaense hybrids are coming full circle. 

Another view of some kokeshis on display.

This panda was wandering around the venue floor, and is apparently a fan of traditional kokeshis. And really, what event isn't improved with a guy in a panda suit?

Naruko's Kokeshi Jinja (Shinto shrine), devoted to kokeshis. I'm not sure if there's a patron saint of kokeshis or what, but if you look closely at the photograph near the stairs you'll notice a giant kokeshi standing there.