Kokeshi Poster!

Two years ago we attended the National Kokeshi Festival 全国こけし祭り in Naruko Onsen and it was, of course, fantastic. That year Cochae, a publisher of stylish kokeshi books and materials, made the festival poster and we managed to get a couple. I like graphic design in general, and I think Cochae did a beautiful job with it to the degree that it could be framed and hung as art. Not all kokeshi event posters are as pleasing to the eye by the way -- this one is definitely unique. Anyway, I had been wanting to frame it for the last two years, and we finally got around to getting it done a couple weeks ago. It wasn't cheap to do, but I think the poster looks great over our sofa in the living room. Here's a picture.

I guess this poster would fall under the category of kokeshi art, something I always enjoy looking at. Overall, I'm quite pleased with this framing project.

On an unrelated topic I wanted to mention to fellow kokeshi enthusiasts outside of Japan that we're seeing more and more traditional kokeshis in the media, including TV. The other day a cartoon was on NHK (not sure what the show's name is) and in a scene when the little boy was talking with his mother there was a kokeshi in the background. I took a couple of screenshots that came out well so you can see what I'm talking about. Again, kokeshi sightings like this have become increasingly common, and Naoko, the girls and I are often yelling "kokeshi!" when we see one show up on the screen. Are traditional kokeshis mainstream these days? Maybe so.

Do  you see the kokeshi?

Hey, it's a kokeshi!