I was at the bookstore a couple weeks ago and found two kokeshi books I had never seen before and immediately bought them for Naoko. The first one, simply entitled こけし Kokeshi, Naoko has enjoyed, and I agree that it's quite good. It definitely emphasizes the cuteness of kokeshis and kokeshi crafts, as well as the highlighting the joy of traveling to Tohoku and meeting craftsmen. In fact, the author actually brought a couple of kokeshis with her on a trip to Europe and photographed them in various famous locations. Sounds familiar, and in truth the book is a bit like this blog!
The second recent book that I purchased is entitled かわいい こけし Kawaii Kokeshi ["Cute Kokeshis"], but Naoko had already seen it and decided it was too basic for her at this point. We didn't even take it out of the shrink wrap before returning it to the bookstore, so I can't say whether or not it's any good. However, some of you out there might enjoy getting it so I've provided a link to Amazon Japan for more info.
Finally, the folks down at Kokeshika in Kamakura have just released the latest edition of こけし時代 Kokeshi Jidai magazine with the subtitle of "Style of Nakuro Colonial." It's on 鳴子系こけし Naruko-style kokeshi makers who do not live in the Naruko Onsen area. The issue also comes with a wooden cut-out kokeshi within the shrink wrap that can actually be sent through the mail as a postcard -- pretty cool! We got the issue while up in Sendai on our recent big kokeshi adventure.
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