Modern Kokeshi

By Joanna Zhou

Here is a take of the modern day Kokeshi dolls by London graphic designer, Joanna Zhou.  She was asked to create a toy that was inspired by the streets of Shibuya and she created a vinyl doll series called Momiji dolls.  These dolls look similar to the traditional Kokeshi.

Kokeshi is one of the many Japanese traditional folk art.  It is a doll made out of  wood with a simple body shape that derived from Japan during the 18th and 19th century. These dolls were made as a cheaper alternative toy for children to play with rather than porcelain dolls.  Some say that the Kokeshi doll were used as pacifiers. Here are few modern (kokeshi) dolls that were featured on MoyToy. Who knew Kokeshi dolls would make an impact on the vinyl toy business.  Whoever created the original kokeshi is on to something.  Maybe MoyToy will feature really cool looking pacifiers soon.