Welcome to kokeshi.org, a website dedicated to the art and beauty of wooden and pottery dolls from Japan. The site aims to detail the history and traditions of creative and traditional kokeshi dolls, russian wooden dolls, matryoshkas, daruma dolls, and hakata dolls and give an insight into these fine artworks.
The origin of the Japanese dolls is also extremely ancient, about around BCE in the Jomon period. However, dolls began to take a wide variety of forms and purposes only since the Edo Period (1603-1867) and have been produced in many different types.
Wooden dolls, known as Kokeshi, from the Tohiku region of northern Japan, evolved with different domains adopting unique styles during this period. Kokeshi (from Japanese こけし) is Japanese wooden doll crafted for more than 150 years as a toy for children. These handmade toys do not have arms or legs, they have a single trunk and head and with their faces and clothing painted.
These traditional styles remained unchanged until the post-war era, when artists began to abandon traditional styles and a new form was created. The “Creative Kokeshi” dolls are currently the main accommodation in popular Japanese culture, and the best receive the Prime Minister’s award each year.
You will find all the information related to kokeshi toys art at our website kokeshi.org.
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