LITMIR.BIZ

      FOREWORD

      Each time I go abroad, I bring home dolls representative of the countries I have visited. Though I am unable to buy highly valuable examples, these dolls have already grown into a sizable population that fills my small house with a society of their own. Each one reminds me of the time and place that we met.

      In this way, around the world, the art of dolls is very closely related to the people of each culture. Japan is no different. Japanese dolls have since ancient times been made of paper and cloth, along with clay, bamboo or wood, and decorated with water-based paints, making them extremely delicate. Documentary sources from ancient times contain references to dolls that sound similar to those we see today but due to the fragile nature of the materials, not many dolls remain, with the exception of a few rare examples. The vast majority of extant early dolls are from the Edo period or later. It is indeed remarkable and moving that despite the fragility of their materials, so many richly varied objects survive. The dolls presented in this book provide a glimpse into this world. Through them, we can gain an understanding of a number of special characteristics of Japanese dolls.

      Most obviously, Japanese dolls teach us how deeply people of every period have felt about dolls. This intense feeling is the reason that we have such a variety today as well as the reason they have survived over time in such good condition. Secondly, there is an extremely large variety of dolls. These were born of not only the different regions in which they were made, but also from changes in the social classes for whom they were made. Thirdly, while some dolls are gentle and clearly designed to make their viewers happy, others evoke an extremely high sense of spirituality, suggesting that they conceal a more intense energy As this book suggests, this high level of hidden spirituality expressed through extremely sensitive and refined modeling is one of the unique characteristics of Japanese dolls. For this reason, there is nothing inappropriate about categorizing Japanese ningyō as an art form in its own right. Finally, it is important to discuss unique characteristics of the modeled forms themselves. Ningyō are not simply human miniatures or representations. While some dolls strive to portray a complete likeness, it is the dolls that are able to evoke a world of their own that have distinctively Japanese characteristics.

      In considering Japanese doll culture, and, indeed, doll cultures the world over, three issues invariably arise: dolls as objects of worship; dolls as playthings, and dolls as objects of visual appreciation. An additional point not addressed here, but one that should not be forgotten, is the joy of the makers themselves in creating dolls. Readers of this book will find it helpful to keep these issues in mind as they go through the texts and examine the pictures.

      One example of Japanese dolls as an object of worship are the hitogata, which are still being excavated from ancient archeological sites. These human representations were prayed to for good health, or alternatively were used to place unhappiness curses on particular individuals. The origin of hina dolls, which are the focus of the popular modern-day Doll Festival, are rooted in these images simply formed from wood and paper.

      The fact that dolls were used as playthings in ancient times is evident from the Genji monogatari (Tale of Genji). As a young girl, the heroine, Murasaki no Ue, played with dolls by dressing them up in beautiful clothes and likening them to the hero, Genji, at the imperial court. She is described as setting up a miniature palace and decorating it with various furnishings. A later example of a depiction of dolls comes from a Momoyama-period portrait of Kikuhime, a daughter of the Maeda daimyō clan of Kaga Prefecture. In the painting, Kikuhime, who died at an early age, is depicted with dolls by her side. The simple shapes, with arms outstretched, make a particularly strong impression.

      Evidence for dolls as objects to be looked at comes from a medieval document describing a Buddhist ritual at the Nara temple of Hokke-ji. The document states that the nuns sewed patterned silk clothes to dress a figurine of Sudhana (Jp. Zenzai Dōji), a boy described in the Buddhist scriptures, for a scene depicting his pilgrimage to numerous Buddhist teachers and saints. This patterned silk would have been chōsen for its exquisite designs and colors and must have greatly moved its viewers.

      The long history of dolls in Japan continued into the Edo period, where the art of the doll flourished to an even greater extent. This compilation, restricted to ningyō in US collections, is necessarily somewhat limited in scope. However, the fact that such dolls have been gathered by American collectors and that the subject of Japanese dolls has been meticulously researched and written with the greatest dedication to form this volume will further the understanding of, love for, and inspiration of Japanese dolls among a great many people. This makes me truly happy I hope that these Japanese dolls will live on forever.

      Professor Kirihata Ken

       Ōtemae University

       Former Curator of Dolls and Textiles

       at Kyoto National Museum