October Tokyo Kokeshi Friends Meeting 10月東京こけし友の会

In October Naoko, the girls and I headed to Sugamo 巣鴨 in downtown Tokyo for the monthly Kokeshi Friends 東京こけし友の会 meeting. It is usually held in Kanda, so this was a treat.

Entering the main shopping street in Sugamo. Foot traffic only.

Hey, three giant Tsuchiyu kokeshis! There was a traditional kokeshi exhibit in this shop, but we couldn't stop to see it since it was getting close to the meeting time.

October's kokeshi was this beautiful Nambu style 南部系こけし one by Mr. Matsuda Hiroji 松田弘次さん of Morioka City in Iwate Prefecture 岩手県. I prefer painted kokeshis, but it's hard not to admire the craftsmanship of this piece. It's also nice to get a Nambu -- they're quite rare these days.

Our fellow members trickled in before the meeting and spent time examining the auction and raffle kokeshis that you'll see in the photos below.

There were also a few old books available in the raffle.

The meeting begins -- a full house.

There was a presentation on the Sato family of Iwaki City in Fukushima. As you may recall from my blog posts back in 2011 that they had to evacuate to Gunma Prefecture where we visited them a couple of times. 

A slide of the Satos in front of their temporary home in Gunma.

The raffle finally began -- that's Naoko and Lena picking out some nice new kokeshis for our collection that you'll see below.

Oh yes, there were also some new books and magazines available as well.

After the meeting we walked around Sugamo for a bit. It's a fun shopping street that I definitely recommend for a visit. There might not be any kokeshis there (though you could always bring your own), but it's well worth the trip. Here are a few photos so you can see what it's like there.

The "Red Underwear" 赤パンツ shop.

An umbrella shop.

Sugamo's mascot character "Sugamon."

One of our new kokeshis enjoying Sugamo. Wow, what a face!

Another one of our new kokeshis.

And so another kokeshi adventure comes to a close.

New Kokeshis 新しいこけし

It just occurred to me that I did not show the new kokeshis from our big Yamagata adventure in early October. We came back with some amazing pieces of all shapes and sizes, many of which were Yamagatas 山形系, as well as a few Hijioris 肘折系, a couple of Tsugarus 津軽系 and Togattas 遠刈田系, some Tsuchiyus 土湯系, two Zaos 蔵王系, and even two Sakunamis 作並系. Come to think of it, we acquired a large variety of kokeshi styles. Therefore, without further ado please meet the newest additions to our collection. 

A Kokeshi on "Itte Q!" "世界の果てまでイッテQ!"のこけし

One of our favorite TV programs in Japan is called Sekai no hate made itte Q! 世界の果てまでイッテQ!, a zany show where actors go around the world doing interesting things. Recently a new person showed up as a temporary replacement on the show, and it turns out that she's such a big traditional kokeshi fan that she brings them with her on location. For instance, during a recent episode of Itte Q! in Thailand she brought a kokeshi along, and based on the screen capture it looks like a Yamagata style. As I've noted in a couple of other blog entries we are seeing more and more traditional kokeshis on TV, which is great!

The lady holding the kokeshi is apparently not the kokeshi fan.

 Yes sir, kokeshis are definitely popular these days.

Kofun Kokeshis 古墳のこけし

On Saturday, 21 November Naoko, the girls and I headed north to Takasaki City 高崎市 in Gunma Prefecture 群馬県. Gunma is known for its Modern Kokeshi 近代こけし tradition, but we actually went to visit an archaeological site and interpretive center -- Kamitsukeno-sato Museum of Archaeology かみつけの里博物館 -- based around two huge kofun 古墳, or burial tombs that were built 1,400 to 1,500 years ago before there was even a country called Japan. What, you might ask, would such a place have to do with kokeshis? As you will see in the pictures below, next to the kofun are a number of haniwa 埴輪, which are cylindrical, hollow, unglazed earthenware objects of various sorts that the people of that time made for unknown purposes, and that are typically found at kofun archaeological sites. There were a number of reproductions of haniwa of all sorts at the main Hachimanzuka Kofun 八幡塚古墳 that we visited, including horses, birds, soldiers, and even little houses. As a historian of Japan all of this was extremely interesting to me. As a kokeshi enthusiast however, something else caught my eye.  

Haniwa in the foreground, and the rebuilt Hachimanzuka Kofun in the background.

As you'll see in the close up photo below, there were also some very kokeshi-like haniwa interspersed among the others. I was familiar with a number of haniwa shapes before this trip, but this was a real surprise. The shape is of course a coincidence, and the haniwa "kokeshis" undoubtedly came about in the same manner that kokeshis did. That is, it's an extremely basic shape of just a head and body that still looks like a human form. If there is a connection, or even a theory of a connection between the kofun haniwa from Gunma and today's kokeshis, I haven't heard about it. In case you're wondering, many haniwa are actually found on the kofun and may have been used to hold the earth in place. As for their meaning, there are various theories but no one can say for sure.  

Haniwa "kokeshis."

Also of possible interest for kokeshi fans and historians is the shape of the Gunma kofuns, as can be seen in the Kamitsukeno-sato Museum of Archaeology's logo: A green kofun, red kofun, and blue kofun. There are actually many different kofun shapes, but the most striking is the so-called "keyhole" (zenpo koen fun 前方後円墳) shape which, in my opinion, also happens to look very much like a traditional kokeshi.

Although not easy to see in the monument below, the kofun had a distinct shape that looks too me like a head and body, and, again, what is generally referred to as a "keyhole" shape by Western scholars.

This was not a kokeshi adventure (though we were actually very close to the fantastic Usaburo 卯三郎 modern kokeshi factory), it is still a highly recommended destination for a day trip. For more information (Japanese only) please visit the museum's web site at this link.

New Tsugaru Kokeshi 新しい津軽系こけし

A friend of Naoko's recently sent her this beautiful little Owani-style 大鰐系 Tsugaru kokeshi by Mr. Hasegawa Masashi 長谷川 優志さん of Hirosaki City in Aomori Prefecture. The shape is quite interesting in that the head is very large in proportion to the body, which I find appealing. I'm a fan of the Owani kokeshi branch of the Tsugaru family, which are not easy to get a hold of, so it's very a welcome addition to our collection.

We met Mr. Hasegawa back in summer 2011 during our first big kokeshi adventure, but I don't recall seeing any like these at that time. According to Naoko, Mr. Hasegawa's kokeshis have become quite popular recently.