Japanese Doll Making

Cloth and Fiber

• One type of Japanese cloth dolls is called Oshi-e bina, a 2-D doll made from padded silk panels that may overlap one another or may be fitted. Another example is a teru-teru bozu, a simple doll in which one square of white fabric is wadded up and placed in the center of another. The corners of the second square of fabric are then wrapped around the ball, and a string is tied below the ball of fabric to keep it in place, while the remaining fabric hangs loosely below the head. A face may then be drawn on the head, if desired. Teru-teru bozu may also be created with tissue paper.

  A more modern method of doll making is "amigurumi," in which the body parts making up the doll are individually crocheted in spiral patterns and then sewn together. An amigurumi toy may then be embellished with fabric, ribbons, buttons, and other odds and ends.

Paper and Paper Mache

• Many types of Japanese dolls are made with paper. For example, anesama and washi dolls are made from decorative paper folded like origami, but parts of the dolls may be cut out or pasted on. Some dolls are made from paper mache, including various children̵7;s toys, maneki neko (̶0;beckoning cat,̶1; a lucky statue that may also be ceramic) and Daruma dolls. Daruma dolls (also made from wood, ceramic and paper) are small, round figures with religious significance in Japan. They are weighted so that if they are knocked over, they will return to a standing position. Paper mache dolls are painted. Figures dolls like the maneki neko and the Daruma doll have traditional colors and patterns that are painted on.

Clay and Ceramic

• Some ceramic dolls, unlike the maneki neko and Daruma dolls, combine ceramic with other mediums. For example, the traditional hina dolls that celebrate Girls̵7; Day (March 3) have heads and hands that are made from ceramics, while the bodies are stuffed with straw and covered with elaborate, colorful clothing. However, the head and hands may also be made from a molded wood composition called "toso" or carved from wood. Musha dolls, which celebrate Boys̵7; Day (May 5) are made in the same way, but they represent different characters than are seen on Girls̵7; Day. Hina and musha dolls may also have human or horse hair. There are also gosho dolls, which are round, white dolls that represent baby boys that are often molded from clay and painted. They may also be made from toso or carved from wood and then smoothed and covered with a paste made from oyster shells called "gofun."

  One highly regarded type of Japanese dolls is the hakata doll, which is an unglazed figure molded out of clay and then painted. They often have embellishments added that are made from metal, wood or cloth.

Wood

• Some dolls described in the previous sections can also be made with wood, including Daruma, hina, musha and gosho dolls. One type of doll, known as a kokeshi doll, is only traditionally made with wood, although there are some modern variations. Kokeshi dolls are usually girls depicted with cylindrical bodies that support large, spherical heads, although they may be made in many different shapes today. They are made from pieces of wood that are turned on a lathe, after which hair, facial features and clothes may be painted on.