Dolls

Hina Dolls
Every year on March 3rd, Japan celebrates the Doll Festival (Japanese, Hina Matsuri). Until recently, Girls' Day was also celebrated on March 3rd. On this day every year, families set up a special step-altar on which to arrange their Emperor and Empress dolls, called "hina" in Japanese. They decorate this altar with boughs of peach blossoms and make offerings to the hina dolls of freshly made rice cakes (mochi), either flavored with a wild herb or colored and cut into festive diamond shapes. Here at the Kyoto National Museum, we hold an exhibition of dolls every year sometime between February and April in celebration of the Doll Festival.

Japanese Dolls
All these 3 dolls are geisha that are in 3 different occasions/festivals...

Hakata Dolls
The commonly accepted origin of Hakata dolls is 17th-century Hakata; artisans including Souhiti Masaki produced clay dolls, sometimes presented as gifts to Buddhist temples and to Kuroda Nagamasa, the ruler of Hakata at that time. These dolls were called Hakata suyaki ningyō ("博多素焼人形", "Hakata unglazed doll"). Hakata also has a famous festival, Hakata Gion Yamakasa, which involves decorated Ningyō floats. The floats are made from wood, but it is believed that the method of production of these floats strongly influenced the Hakata doll. However, recent archaeological evidence discovered during the excavation of Hakata, including simple biscuit-fired toys, has put the origin of Hakata dolls in China.



Kokeshi Dolls
Kokeshi (こけし ,kokeshi), are Japanese dolls, originally from northern Japan. They are handmade from wood, have a simple trunk and an enlarged head with a few thin, painted lines to define the face. The body has a floral design painted in red, black, and sometimes yellow, and covered with a layer of wax. One characteristic of Kokeshi dolls is their lack of arms or legs. The bottom is marked with the signature of the artist.