Traditional craft
Kyo Ningyo
京人形
Elegant hina, gosho and ichimatsu dolls from Kyoto, where heads, hair, hands and dressing are each the work of a separate master.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 2 March 1986
- Type
- Dolls and kokeshi
- Region
- Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 京人形
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 京都市、宇治市、亀岡市、八幡市
The best of every part
In Kyoto, each part of a doll is the work of a different specialist: one makes the head, another sets the hair, another the hands and feet, another dresses it. Every part is the best its maker can do, and together they make superb dolls. Kyoto's neighbouring crafts, from textiles such as Nishijin weaving to lacquer and Buddhist goods, give the doll makers an ideal setting. Products include ichimatsu, hina, Boys' Day, gosho and genre dolls. It is made in Kyoto, Uji, Kameoka and Yawata in Kyoto.
Divided among masters
- Heads are moulded from toso of paulownia or cedar, or carved from paulownia or fir.
- Hair is set in silk thread by a hair specialist.
- Hands and feet are made separately.
- The doll is dressed in silk costume by a dressing specialist.
- Many of these skills pass from master to a single heir, a tradition called isshi soden.
From protectors to playthings
Dolls began as amagatsu and hoko, figures that took misfortune in a child's place. Over time they became the forerunners of hina dolls, played with by the children of Heian-period nobles, and the form was completed in the Edo period. Gosho dolls, costume dolls and ichimatsu dolls were born in the same era.
Good to know
- Look at the costume fabric: Kyo dolls are dressed in silk, and some wear Nishijin brocade.
- Ask which workshop made the head; it is the part that sets the doll's expression.
Questions travellers ask
Why are Kyo dolls made by many people?
Each part is done by a specialist, so every part is the best it can be.
Where do hina dolls come from?
From amagatsu and hoko figures that protected children, which became noble children's dolls in the Heian period.
Where it comes from
More crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- 800 years of Japanese tea in Uji and southern Kyoto
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Lake Biwa Canal: the waterway of hope from Otsu to Kyoto
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- Tango chirimen: 300 years of silk on Kyoto's north coast
- Yokosuka, Kure, Sasebo and Maizuru: Japan's naval port cities
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.