In Japan, over the past millenium, the making of human figures has moved comfortably between the talisman and the souvenir, the sacred object and the plaything. Dolls, for which the broadest term is ningyo (`written with two characters, meaning "human figure''), have a spiritual significance; they seal friendships, protect or purify those who use them, and help young girls and boys explore their roles in society. Their history also reflects the development of relgious and political ideas, and an economy of local crafts for export. They may be made of wood, reeds, paper, pottery, or even ivory, and dressed in the finest cloth, often woven or painted especially with appropriately tiny motifs. 

     There are several criteria for classification: materials (kamo = "willow") or method of construction (kimekomi = cloth "tucked in" a grooved base); distinctive shapes (kokeshi, tachibina, hoko); locality of origin or production (Nara, Saga, Kobe dolls); theatrical names (Ichimatsu, Takeda); names associated with festivals or other activities. Any one ningyo may be classified in all these ways. I will not be including all these types but only the ones I have found depicted at various sites on the Web.

     American interest in Japanese ningyo right now probably springs at least partly from the "geisha" dolls brought back by U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan in the 1940s and 50s. I remember seeing tall, elegant dolls in cases in the house of a childhood friend whose late father had been a naval officer. Fifty years later, many of these dolls are coming on the market and can be found at auctions and in antique shops.

The year 1944: The deep meaning of dolls in Japanese culture can be understood through the research of American anthropologist Ellen Schattschneider, who is studying the role of dolls in Japan's  military effort of World War II.  Dolls allowed civilian women to feel they were part of the war, and pilots to feel they were supported; and, later, allowed families to mourn the boys who had died without marriage and children. See Mystery of the Mascot Dolls.

• Takeshi Kitano's "Dolls." This story is set in a modern Japan of gangsters and pop stars, but its simple, tragic love story is designed to evoke the world of Bunraku puppet plays and the traditional sweep of the four seasons dear to Japanese art. The movie opens with a scene from a Bunraku play.
  
• Akira Kurosawa's "Dreams" (Yume). The first episode shows a "fox wedding," which in itself can be a subject for ningyo representation. The second episode involves a magnificent hina-dan display which comes alive as FIVE complete (13-doll) sets which sing and dance for a child who weeps for a lost peach orchard.
• Kenji Mizoguchi's "Life of Oharu" tells the story of a woman's life in the 17th century, encompassing an aristocratic maidenhood, true love almost leading to suicide, concubinage, marriage, nunhood, the life of a courtesan in the pleasure quarters and of the lowest of street whores. Oharu's period as a lord's concubine in Edo (about halfway through the film) culminates with the birth of a son; during this time, she attends a bunraku puppet performance emphasizing a wife's jealousy, which is brief but vivid, and gives birth in a room decorated by a gigantic Gosho doll and a treasure-ship.
• Kurosawa's "The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail" is a one-hour film from 1946 which retells the famous story of the Kabuki play Kanjincho. This story, in which Benkei protects the hero Yoshitsune by disguising him as his servant and beating him, is a subject for doll tableaux. Benkei and Yoshitsune themselves are favorites in Boys' Day displays, and it is delightful to see them "alive."

• Alan Pate, Ningyo: The Art Of The Japanese Doll (Tuttle, 2005). This is a big, marvelously illustrated book on dolls of the Edo period (17th-19th century), which brings into English much scholarly information about Japanese doll history. The essays on individual dolls provide detailed information on theater, literature, politics, and economics--a reminder of why Japanese dolls can enthrall us as a window into a lost culture.
• Lea Baten, Japanese Dolls: The Image and the Motif (Shufunotomo, Tokyo, 1986), the source of much of the information on these pages! 
• Lea Baten, Identifying Japanese Dolls: Notes on Ningyo (Hotei Press, 2000).
  
• Lea Baten, Playthings and Pastimes in Japanese Prints.  1995. Actual toys and dolls are shown along with prints from the 18th through early 20th centuries showing them in use.
• Lea Baten, Japanese Folk Toys: The Playful Arts. 1992. Survey of the many special toys produced in various regions of Japan.
• Gunnhild Avitabile, NINGYO: THE ART OF HUMAN FIGURINE Traditional Japanese Display Dolls from the Ayervais Collection, 95 pp., over 80 color illustrations, paper, New York, 1995. $30.00 (catalogue of an exhibition at the Japan Society, New York). This book was the result of collaboration with Japanese doll experts and has many wonderful insights.
• Tokebei Yamada,  Japanese Dolls, Japan Travel Bureau (1955). A lively little book with information not only on the history of the dolls but on 1950's doll production.
• Jill and David Gribbin, Japanese Antique Dolls --a beautiful big book with a good deal of information.
• Luella Tilton Hart, The Japanese Doll, privately printed 1952. A small book I happened on in a sale, with a good deal of useful information.
• Daruma Magazine often publishes articles on Japanese dolls.
• Several of the newer books here are available through Paragon Book Gallery.