dont forget to get my kokeshi book for Xmas!
You can get in on amazon, (its better if you can get it somewhere like Kinokuniya if you are in Japan, and should be easy to find overseas too at large bookstores) it's not expensive, and interviews are great for lovers of crafts and handmade things, someone called the mood "meditative" which is really apt.
Real artisan heart and soul. <3333
Whoever wrote that comment on my amazon (thank you) if I ever do another edition, yes there will be comprehensive listings next time for places to eat and sleep, I'm already getting mails asking where I should stay, so that is a bit of a regret, as there isnt that much info in English online and some of the homepages are super ghetto (like html 101 class with fluro animated gifs) but the actual place is amazing. And also smooth out some gaffes.
Im about to go on vacay, but in the least I will try and write some places on this post in December with links to where we stayed, we did a ton of side trips as well.
oh and thanks to Andrew Lee at The Japan Times for reviewing it yesterday.
It was unexpected so I was super happy.
m(_ _)m
Kokeshi dolls are a mainstay of tourists shop across Japan, yet many visitors to the country may not know that these simple handmade wooden dolls are, by and large, associated with Tohoku, the region in the northeast that was so devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011.
In “Kokeshi: From Tohoku With Love,” author Manami Okazaki visits the region and interviews 20 koujin (kokeshi makers) who create these traditional dolls to discover the history and culture behind the various varieties of kokeshi (there are 11 aparently). The result is a delightful little book that captures the warmth of the artisans involved in creating the wooden dolls. “That moment you place the brush on a kokeshi your spirits lift. It is a strange and fascinating thing,” says one. Some of the koujin Okazaki speaks with have been carving and painting kokeshi for more than 50 years and many are carrying on a family tradition that goes back generations. “I have been making kokeshi since 1945, I was 18 years old and it was the will of my parents,” says another.
Throughout the book are photos of the people and places Okazaki visited, and as the dolls are also associated with the onsen (hot springs) areas of Tohoku, the book also includes a guide to the area. The photos of the matsuri (festivals) in the region are particularly fun.
Overall, the book reveals how deeply something as a basic as simple wooden doll can become so entrenched into a culture. Proceeds of the book will go toward Tohoku relief aid.
