Every detail of this Kokeshi bears the hand of Kijidokoro Sato, a workshop with more than 120 years of history in the heart of the Yajiro region in Miyagi. Hidden inside the head are adzuki beans: when moved, they create a soft, dry rattle. In Japan, they have been regarded for centuries as a symbol of good fortune, used at births, weddings and festivals. This construction is called gara-iri – sound as a fourth dimension.
Hideyuki Sato himself describes this piece as an old-style Kokeshi – a deliberate reference to the Oriki period, that early phase of the Yajiro tradition from which the ochre-yellow body with patterned painting originates. No modern intervention, no reinvention, but the return to a form that existed before it had a name.
The ochre-yellow body carries a firebird motif in red and black, its feathers unfolding from the neck to the base. The same flame shape returns in the hair and on the cheeks of the face. Head and body become a closed pictorial circle. The round head has gentle eyes, rosy cheeks and a small mouth. The black hair crown is finished with red flame accents.
Special features
Gara-iri: adzuki-bean rattle inside the head
Yajiro style, Oriki period: ochre-yellow body with firebird motif
Hand-turned and hand-painted – by Kijidokoro Sato, Miyagi
Wood: Mizuki (dogwood)
Signed by the artist
Dimensions
Height
approx. 27 cm
Diameter
approx. 9 cm
Origin
Miyagi, Japan
Please note
This product is not a toy and should be kept out of the reach of children.
