Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Introducing myself. Kokeshi KOUJIN(means craftsman), Hideyuki Sato

I will introduce myself today.

My name is Hideyuki Sato.
The birth is Japanese country Fukushima Prefecture Iwaki City on August 2, 1977.
I have been working to make the kokeshi doll from 24 years old. It started after had worked for the trading company for two years upon finishing university. It becomes year ninth in this year.
My father and the grandfather also have made the kokeshi doll. In a word, I become a third generation.


The name of our kokeshi craftsroom is "Kijidokoro Sato" . The grandfather is a founder, and it is 1901 to become independent.
It becomes for ..establishment.. 109 years this year. I will speak either of our families' history.

The kokeshi doll is made from my father(my master) and four people (mother and younger brother) and me, and it sells it now. There is about 100 kokeshi craftsmen now. They lives in the Tohoku(north of Japan) region.  It is natural to make the kokeshi doll from the family, but it is cunsiderably unusual to make the kokeshi doll from the four families!

About "Koujin"
It is a reason that is called, "Kokeshi koujin" to do all processes from the deforestation of the tree to the wood drying, management,
lumbering, the processing, drawing, finish, and sales consistently by the hand work.
For instance, it is "Workman" to do only drawing as only the potter's wheel processing is done and is distinguished from "Koujin".
But deforestation of the tree alone was not done now. because it was angry the owner of the tree when cutting it without permission!






Actually, Being able to consist is that it goes to sales making the kokeshi doll, and life is serious old times and now .
Kokeshi dolls who are born in the life have a life of 100 people each koujin, and the life is projected onto the kokeshi doll.
It is a charm to feel such a deep tasting.

I want to talk from the vision of kokeshi kounin variously the kokeshi doll and myself.

2 comments:

  1. Konichiwa Hideyuki Sato san,

    I am Enlish and have only just started to collect Kokeshi. I have some Dento and many Sousho (creative). It has been very interesting reading your blog and I hope I may be able to post some photos of my dolls on the internet in the hope to find out more about them. My father is also looking for the dolls in the second-hand shops and antique shops of England. They are about. The oldest one i have is a Nuago one from about 1900. I think they are a wonderful caft object. I will continue to follow your blog with great interest. Kindest regards, In Frindship.
    Michelle

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  2. I was going to tell Michelle to work on her spelling and grammar but I think it would be pointless considering that people in England only speak intelligible English in movies, they seem to have given the English language away to other countries and lost the ability to actually use it themselves.

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