Dolls show Japanese lifestyle, tradition

Asti Megasari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Japanese dolls have a role with greater significance than merely the object of child's play or house decorations.

As you can see in the ongoing Japanese doll exhibition at the Japan Foundation as part of its world tour, each of the exclusively made porcelain and wooden dolls embodies the values of Japanese lifestyle and traditions.

For example, Gogatsu Ningyo, is a doll of a young boy in full armored warrior costume, traditionally displayed by families during the Boys festival each year with hopes that their son will grow up strong, healthy and hold respected position in the society like the warriors.

The arts on exhibits bring the audience to experience the exquisiteness of Japanese art and cultural heritage.

Not only ritually important, some of the dolls are believed to have mystical significance behind them.

Hina Ningyo or the dolls of the thousand-year-old Hina festival are believed to hinder the daughters of families from finding spouses in the future should the paired dolls fail to be kept apart after the festival day on March 3.

Each of the dolls that range in height from 10 cm to 35 cm are exclusively hand-made by professional artists from various parts of Japan. The production particularly focuses on the selection of the costumes, accessories and the facial expressions of the dolls.

"They (the dolls) are made by individual doll makers not factories, which takes a long time, with careful selection of the kind of fabrics (used for the costumes)", said Okano Tadayasu, the special assistant at the cultural department of the Japan Foundation.

The intricate details of each doll gives it a highly artistic value, which means that only the economically well off Japanese can afford the best pieces.

"The total collection on display here is worth 15 million yen (about US$125,000)", Okano Tadayasu explained. A Gogatsu Ningyo doll alone is worth around 3 million yen (about $25,000 or Rp 250 million).

Different from the more modern dolls that mainly focus on the artistic expression, the traditional ones usually have historical and cultural stories behind them.

The traditional dolls are commonly the personification of assorted Japanese characters, the Noh theater actors and actress, Kabuki players, and women in various activities that mainly reflect their femininity.

This precious collection has traveled to various parts of the world including the Americas, Europe and Africa over the past 10 years.

The Japanese doll exhibition at the Japan Foundation will last until Oct. 5, 2002 at Summitmas Building I, Jl. Jenderal Sudirman from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and to 4 p.m. on Saturday.