A Visit to Shida Kokeshi 志田こけしの旅

During our big Tohoku kokeshi adventure back in April we first went to Hanamaki City in Iwate Prefecture as discussed in the previous blog. The next day we headed south to Yamagata Prefecture山形県, and from there headed west to Nishikawa Village 西川村 located in a valley in the center of some huge mountains blocking the way to the Sea of Japan. Even though it was April and spring had arrived in much of Japan, the mountains of Yamagata were still covered in deep snow and when we got off the highway to go Nishikawa I was amazed to find that we were driving through snowbanks higher than our minivan. Incredible!    

Still lots of snow.

That's Emily scrambling up the wall of snow in Nishikawa Village. 

Our destination was the kokeshi workshop of Mr. Shida Kikuhiro 志田菊宏さん who makes Yamagata-style kokeshis 山形系こけし that I explored in a blog post a few months ago. We arrived a bit earlier than our appointment so we found a small inn in the village where we ate a delicious lunch of cold soba and mountain-vegetable tempura -- the owner had just gathered the vegetables and had large bags of them sitting in the doorway! After lunch we drove to the kokeshi shop and Mr. Shida welcomed us in for some coffee and a chat about kokeshis and life in the mountains. 

The sign for Mr. Shida's shop which is a cafe and kokeshi showroom. 

Naoko chatting with Mr. Shida about kokeshis.

We then spent some time viewing his kokeshis, and once again I must say that his work, especially that of his faces, is absolutely exquisite and unique in the kokeshi world. He let us take pictures of all the pieces he had available so that I could show them here. The following, then, are the kokeshis Mr. Shida had available the day we went. I'm obviously a big fan of his work, and we found some fantastic pieces that have added very nicely to our collection.

These three are all stunning, and we got the tall one on the right.

I got that beauty on the right. I also like the white one on the left but did not get it on this trip. 

Besides his traditional Yamagatas, Mr. Shida has pioneered these cute mushroom and hat kokeshis below which have apparently been a big hit. And deservedly so -- they're really nice work. Naoko got a couple of them of course.

And there were others as well -- Darumas, big kokeshis, and even a giant kokeshi.

Yes, this was a genuine kokeshi adventure. We got to meet Mr. Shida, who was very kind and welcoming, but one can only get to his place via a country road that runs deep into the Yamagata mountains. I do have to say that Mr. Shida's shop is literally in the middle of nowhere and is a long drive from Yamagata City, and even Japanese drivers would have a hard time getting there without a navigation system. Therefore it's essential to plan the trip beforehand and let Mr. Shida know that you're coming. That said the Nishikawa Town area has stunning scenery and just seeing that is probably worth the trip, but of course we all go for the kokeshis.

Hanamaki Kokeshi Adventure 花巻こけしの冒険

Back in April Naoko, the girls and I headed up north and deep into Tohoku for a big kokeshi adventure. We had a great trip overall, which started out in the hills of Hanamaki City 花巻市 in Iwate Prefecture 岩手県 where we visited the kokeshi workshop of Mr. Susumago Morizo 煤孫盛造さん. The fact that we were in Iwate was interesting in and of itself, but Mr. Susumago is one of the last Nambu-style kokeshi 南部系こけし makers, so we got to see and purchase some very unique and rare kokeshis in their native habitat. Nambu kokeshis are probably the easiest traditional kokeshi to recognize as they are the only ones that are left unpainted. Well, the most famous Nambus are the unpainted ones, and frankly I didn't really really care for them as kokeshis until we visited Mr. Susumago's workshop. It was then that I finally came to understand that besides being a beautiful example of a pure representative form, the way Mr. Susumago does his unpainted kokeshis is to draw attention to the beauty of the wood used to make the kokeshi. When you see the variety of colors of natural wood, as well as the grain, it becomes a completely new kokeshi experience. We even bought one made from wood that Mr. Susumago said is likely hundreds, and possibly thousands of years old! Here are a few shots of what we saw.    

The workshop.

The shop sign says "Nambu  Susumago Kokeshi  Susumago Morizo."

Inside the workshop it was cluttered, warm, and welcoming. 

Some Nambu kokeshis for sale.

A group of Nambu kokeshis. One thing all Nambus have in common is the kina kina きなきな head that bobbles around, something that was originally designed for babies to teethe on. You can see a couple of heads tilted in this photo. One of of Mr. Susumago's unique additions to the kokeshi world, and for which I believe he is famous, is the unpainted kokeshi with the hat and overcoat. For some reason I used to think it represented a Catholic priest, but it's actually a doll of Mr. Miyazawa Kenji 宮沢賢治さん, a famous chidrens' book author from Hanamaki who died in 1933 at the age of 37. In fact, just up the hill from Mr. Susumago's workshop is a museum dedicated to Mr. Miyazawa and his works.

Some painted and unpainted kokeshs for sale.

Mr. Susumago explaining about Nambu kokeshis to Naoko. 

A Nambu head waiting to be joined to a Nambu body.

Bodies destined to become Miyazawa Kenji kokeshis.

Naoko, Lena, Emily and Mr. Susumago.

It was very nice to visit Mr. Susumago who is just one of two kokeshi makers remaining in Hanamaki. After saying farewell we went to the Miyazawa Kenji museum that I mentioned above, and then drove up into the mountains to our onsen where we spent the night. Yes, of course there was an onsen, and it was great! Overall I definitely recommend a  trip to Iwate and to visit Mr. Susumago's workshop, but if you go it would be best to call ahead of time so he'll know that you're coming.

Gunma Kokeshi Sightings 群馬県でこけしの観測

On 21 June Naoko, the girls and I drove up into the mountains of Gunma Prefecture for a day in the country. By chance we ended up at Minakami Onsen 水上温泉, and it's a beautiful spot. Although I was not expecting this to be a kokeshi adventure, we did see some interesting things I'd like to report on in this blog. First, we discovered a kokeshi maker's shop on the main street of town. Based on the condition of the facade I would guess that the shop is permanently closed, though I can't say for sure. The craftsman, whose name neither Naoko nor I have been able to decipher, appears to be a traditional kokeshi maker, but I checked our kokeshi our handbooks (from 1993 and 2011) and the name is not in there. Here are a couple of photos of the shop. This is definitely a mystery, and if I find anything out I'll provide information.

Interestingly, when we went into Murakami's Michi no Eki 道の駅 (a chain of facilities along country roads throughout Japan that carry local produce, foods, and goods) I noticed a shelf full of kokeshis. On closer inspection I found that though they weren't exactly modern kokeshis, they also weren't traditional kokeshis either, but there's a connection. Furthermore, they are not related to the craftsman's shop mentioned above, and according to the display there is apparently another kokeshi shop in Minakami called Michinoku Kokeshi Ningyo-ten. みちのくこけし人形店. We didn't make it there, and it may not even be open any more. There were two kokeshi designs for sale: One was a kokeshi that looked similar to a traditional kokeshi, and the other was a Jizo 地蔵, one of the little stone gods seen along roads in Japan. Anyway, I thought these kokeshis were quite nice, though expensive (the Jizo kokeshis were 3,000 yen, and the "traditional" ones were 2,500 yen) so we didn't get any. Again, though, the Jizo kokeshis were really quite nice and striking, so perhaps we'll pick one up the next time we visit Minakami.  

Finally, at a highway rest stop on the way home I spotted this food product using a traditional kokeshi as its label! Kokeshis are definitely everywhere these days.

Kokeshi Jidai 10 こけし時代 10

The newest Kokeshi Jidai こけし時代 magazine came out a couple weeks ago in Japan, and Naoko ordered a copy from the Tsugaru Kokeshi Kan 津軽こけし館. This is issue is over 200 pages and is quite spectacular, covering Zao-Takayu style 蔵王高湯系こけし and Yamagata style 山形系こけし kokeshi makers, as well as onsens in those areas. The issue has a hard cover and comes in a slipcase along with a tiny kokeshi by master kokeshi craftsman Mr. Mito Hiroshi 水戸寛さん of Tendo Onsen 天童温泉 whom we just happened to have visited back in April (more on that in an upcoming blog). For 2,000 yen it's a bargain, so hopefully all overseas kokeshi enthusiasts will be able to get a copy.

The front of the slipcase.

A close up of the slipcase showing a handful of Mr. Mito's wonderful tiny kokeshis. The magazine with a free tiny Mito kokeshi in the hole in the middle.

The back of the slipcase shows some normal-sized Mito kokeshis.

Here's the slipcase and the front cover of the actual magazine. 

Kokeshi Jidai managed to get the rights to run a 1970 manga called "Yamadera Grafitti" about a kokeshi. The artist is Fujio Fukio, the same person who created Doraemon.  

The end of the magazine had a few pages of cool kokeshi wrapping paper.

鳴子こけし殺人事件

A couple of weeks ago I was delighted to see that a new kokeshi-themed book has just come out, though this one's a bit different than what we typically see. It's actually a novel called The Naruko Kokeshi Murder Incident 鳴子こけし殺人事件 by author Mr. Nishimura Kyotaro 西村京太郎さん. Naoko says Mr. Nishimura is quite popular, and a quick check of his other novels shows that he writes lots of similar stories, usually related to trains. Anyway, I would guess that this is the world's first murder novel involving kokeshis, and proves without a doubt that kokeshis are, as we say in America, hot! As for the story, well, it starts off with the discovery of a man murdered in his Tokyo hotel, and the only thing found at the murder site is a single Naruko kokeshi by a famous craftsman. After that are more murders and more kokeshis. I haven't read The Naruko Kokeshi Murder Incident so I have no idea what happens in the rest of the story, or even if the book's any good, but there are kokeshis on the cover so that's good enough for me. Hopefully it will be turned into a movie starring plenty of kokeshis!
If you would like to buy the book, or learn more about it, one good place to start is Amazon.

Kokeshi Wiki

On 17 April 2014 a new and important kokeshi-related resource appeared on the Internet: Kokeshi Wiki (click to view site). It is Japanese-language only, but there are plenty of images to look at for those who do not read Japanese. Here is a screen capture.

As the name suggests, Kokeshi Wiki is an on-line encyclopedia based on the 1971 Kokeshi Dictionary こけし辞典, covering the world of traditional kokeshis, including craftsmen (active, retired, and deceased), history, regions, materials, areas or research, literature, folkways, and even tools. While I haven't gone through everything, it is a serious effort that is clearly meant to be academic and authoritative. The site is brand new and is still a work in progress, but it's already an excellent resource and will become more so as it gets filled in. Although it's not an open wiki, I'm sure in the coming months kokeshi experts out there will be adding a lot of materials and information in order to make it the Wikipedia of the traditional kokeshi world. I will definitely be using this site as a key resource to compliment the books we have on kokeshis, and look forward to seeing how it progresses in the future.

Antique Kokeshis 2 中古こけし 2

A couple of weeks ago Naoko and I discovered that our local antique shop had some really great kokeshis for sale, of which I showed two Tsugaru kokeshis in the previous blog entry. Among the others we found were three Nambu kokeshis 南部系こけし from Iwate Prefecture 岩手県. As with most Nambus, these three have kina-kina (bobble) heads, and all are in beautiful condition despite their age which I estimate to be 26-30 years based on the information written in pencil on the bottom.

The first is, I believe, from 1984 and was likely created by Mr. Matsumoto Tsuruji 松本鶴治さん who was from Hanamaki City 花巻市 in central Iwate. The reason I suspect, but cannot be sure, that Mr. Matsumoto was the craftsman of this kokeshi is the signature on the bottom. The first character is probably "Matsu" 松 while the second is definitely "Tsuru" 鶴, which are the first characters of Mr. Matsumoto's family and given names. So, a bit of a mystery, but I'm fairly confident that this is correct. It's not a particularly outstanding kokeshi, but since Nambus are rare it is nonetheless special. Mr. Matsumoto may actually still be alive (aged 92), but he is no longer making kokeshis.

The mystery signature that's most likely that of Mr. Matsumoto.

The next two Nambu Kokeshis are by Mr. Sasaski Kakuhei 佐々木覚平さん who passed away in 2007. The first one is a relatively small and nice-looking kokeshi. I would have had a hard time identifying it if not for the penciled information on the bottom giving the last name.

Signed with just his first name: Kakuhei 覚平.

The last kokeshi is another piece by Mr. Sasaki, and this one is fairly large and definitely special as one knows it's a Nambu upon looking at it. The big giveaway is the classic Nambu shape -- bulky in the chest area and narrow at the bottom, which is perfect for a child's grip (or that of a serious kokeshi collector!). Based on my research this striping pattern is also unique to Nambu kokeshis. Overall, this beautiful piece has been a very welcome addition to our collection.

A nice, thoughtful, serene face.

The back of the head has this colorful dot pattern in light blue, red, and yellow, matching the striping colors. Quite striking, and also unique to this branch of Nambu kokeshis.

Like the above kokeshi Mr. Sasaki signed it with his first name only. The the three-character word says "Nambu-kei" 南部系. 

Overall I consider these three kokeshis to have been quite a find since they are in great condition, and also because Nambus tend to be hard to find.

Our three "new" Nambu kokeshis with their heads turned.