 Tachibina
("standing hina") can be made of paper at home, and have been since
the late 15th century at least.
They represent a man (large, with outstretched protective
arms) and a woman (smaller, armless). They are related to very ancient
protective figures (the amagatsu, a cross of bamboo with a head, and
the hoko, an almost armless stuffed doll). They also evoke and
sometimes replace the elaborate emperor and empress hina-ningyo
which girls display at Hina Matsuri. When made of
paper or inexpensive materials, they are appropriate for the nagashi-bina
ceremony, the ancestor of Hina Matsuri, in which dolls are touched or rubbed
to absorb one's sins, and then thrown into a river.
The pair can
also be made of various more durable materials (kimekomi, wood, pottery,
or complex construction like hina) and today represent marriage. |
The woodcut at right is
"Memories of other times, Japan" by Paul Jacoulet (early 20th c. French
artist). The tachibina pair clearly remind the old woman of her days as
a bride, or perhaps as a girl dreaming of marriage. Scan compliments of
Washington
Antiques Center. |
 Gosho
ningyo represent baby boys and are very round and very white, made
of clay or wood or composition covered with gofun (oyster-shell paste).
They were first made early in the 17th century and are associated with
the Imperial Court of Kyoto. They can be quite large, though the style
lends itself also to small figures. The smiling white face on a big roundhead
appears in many decorative motifs and many dolls, always evoking the basic
gosho.
(The figure here
is a dyed and embroidered representation of the classic type, playing with
a toy; for two more of these babies/dolls, see my photo
gallery of dolls.) |
|
New in 2006: An article by Alan Pate, "Gosho-Ningyo: Palace Dolls and Auspicious Wishes."
|
|
Kyoto National Museum online database includes many
classic gosho; go to the English search page and type in "gosho doll" or "gosho ningyo."
|
A Japanese-language site with pictures of antique gosho dolls.
|
|
 Kokeshi
dolls, which consist of a lathe-turned joined wooden cylinder body
and sphere head, are still made, as they have been since ca. 1800. They
were made originally as souvenirs of the Tohoku hot-springs area, but also
as offerings to the gods.
There are a certain number of "classic"
kokeshi styles, distinguished by experts through slight variations in shape,
construction, and painting. The basic kokeshi idea, however, has been explored
by artists in many ways, so that one finds nesting kokeshi, rounded neckless
kokeshi, kokeshi with the addition of bamboo hair and sometimes kimono,
and kokeshi positioned in little scenes of daily life or of legend. Thus
these dolls can overlap with the Daruma or even hina figures.
|
 Darumas
represent
the god Daruma or Dharma, son of the 28th Zen patriarch, who brought Zen
enlightenment, and tea, to China and Japan. There are many artistic representations
of Daruma as a monk or missionary, but the Japanese dolls are paper-maché
roly-polys, which one buys with blank eyes so as to paint them in as one
accomplishes some task. This custom may have originated as a thank-offering
to the god for good Spring and Fall harvests; if he did not send a good
harvest, he would remain blind or one-eyed. These dolls are still performing
a significant cultural function.
There are many related types or versions
of Daruma in the various localities of Japan, some of them designated as
female--"ehime daruma," or "princess daruma." One type is made with
a gofun face and rich fabrics like a kimekomi ningyo, but shaped
like a Daruma; these often come in boy-girl pairs.
|
 Hagoita, like Daruma, are associated with the New Year. They
are
richly decorated game paddles, traditonally given as new year's gifts to
girls. The game of hanetsuke is played with a feathered large seed for a
shuttlecock, which is hit with a painted wooden paddle; the other
side of the paddle is usually decorated with elaborate padded cloth faces
of geishas or kabuki actors, using an art form called "oshie" or "padded painting". The old year's
paddles are supposed to be burned at the end of the year.
Here is a picture of a modern December
Hagoita market.
Another page on the Hagoita market.
Zen-shop has
hagoita for sale, amply illustrated. |
