Kokeshi: Continued and Created Traditions (Motivations for a Japanese Folk Art Doll)

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Kokeshi: Continued and Created Traditions (Motivations for a Japanese Folk Art Doll) KOKESHI: CONTINUED AND CREATED TRADITIONS (MOTIVATIONS FOR A JAPANESE FOLK ART DOLL) by Jennifer E. McDowell B.S. in Anthropology, University of California Riverside, 1997 M.A. in Anthropology, California State University Fullerton, 2000 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in Anthropology University of Pittsburgh 2011 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Jennifer E. McDowell It was defended on April 27, 2011 and approved by Andrew J. Strathern, PhD, Andrew W. Mellon Professor, Anthropology Richard Scaglion, PhD, Professor, Anthropology Gabriella Lukacs, PhD, Assistant Professor, Anthropology Martha Chaiklin, PhD, Assistant Professor, History Dissertation Advisor: Andrew J. Strathern, PhD, Andrew W. Mellon Professor, Anthropology ii Copyright © by Jennifer E. McDowell 2011 iii KOKESHI: CONTINUED AND CREATED TRADITIONS (MOTIVATIONS FOR A JAPANESE FOLK ART DOLL) Jennifer E. McDowell, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2011 This study will concentrate on the transformative nature of culturally specific folk art objects, and how they are contextualized within narratives of national tradition and regionalism. Utilizing the Japanese wooden folk art doll kokeshi as a vivid example, I will explore how tradition becomes embodied in objects, and in turn how the image of the kokeshi is actively used to define perceived traditional spaces under the umbrella of cultural nationalism and nostalgia. The establishment of folk art categories like kokeshi reflects the deeper dynamics of Japanese nation building, and the role that the Tōhoku region (the production area for kokeshi) plays in national cohesiveness. Tōhoku and the products within it act as perceived repositories of tradition and self-discovery in what are defined as furusato (hometown) spaces. Those landscapes and objects found within these hometowns become by association traditional and evocative of a past more simple and serene lifestyle. The classification, collection, and creation of works devoted to the perceived regional characteristics of kokeshi will be explored in relation to the larger topic of national cohesion and the formations of traditions. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................................... XI INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 TRADITION AND NATION.............................................................................. 4 1.2 TRADITION, OBJECTS, AND, TRAVEL ..................................................... 10 1.3 METHODS ......................................................................................................... 15 1.4 ORGANIZATION ............................................................................................. 20 2.0 KOKESHI: CATEGORIES OF TRADITION AND CHANGE ............................ 25 2.1 TRADITIONAL KOKESHI DEVELOPMENT.............................................. 25 2.2 TRADITIONAL KOKESHI STRAINS............................................................ 35 2.3 TRADITIONAL KOKESHI: MATERIALS, MATERIAL PREPARATION, LATHE CONSTRUCTION AND DESIGN .................................................................... 64 2.3.1 Wood ............................................................................................................... 64 2.3.2 Wood Preparation ......................................................................................... 70 2.3.3 Turning Kokeshi ............................................................................................. 73 2.3.4 Paint Techniques and Body Decorations ..................................................... 83 2.4 MODERN KOKESHI: NEW STYLE, SOUVENIR, AND CREATIVE ..... 95 v 2.5 DIVISION AND OVERLAP OF TRADITIONAL AND MODERN KOKESHI .......................................................................................................................... 106 3.0 COLLECTORS, TOURISTS, AND ARTISANS: MOTIVATIONS ................. 118 3.1 THE CURIOUS CASE OF TSUGARU KOKESHI ....................................... 123 3.2 KOKESHI KŌJIN AND THE NEED FOR AN HEIR .................................. 138 3.3 KOKESHI COLLECTING, TRAVEL, AND TŌHOKU ............................. 141 3.4 KOKESHI POPULARITY AND COMPETITIONS .................................... 146 3.5 THE ECONOMICS OF KOKESHI ................................................................. 151 3.6 THE SHADOW SIDE OF KOKESHI ............................................................ 154 3.7 COLLECTORS AND TOURISTS ................................................................. 158 3.8 KOKESHI KŌJIN AND PERSONAL CHOICES ......................................... 160 4.0 KOKESHI: SHIFTING SIGNIFIERS AND WOODEN TRADITION ............. 169 4.1 PERCEIVED MEANINGS OF THE WORD KOKESHI ............................ 171 4.2 EVIDENCE FOR THE FALSE ETYMOLOGY OF KOKESHI ................ 174 4.3 CRITIQUES OF THE VISUAL INTERPRETATIONS OF KOKESHI .... 185 4.4 KOKESHI, CHILD DEATH, AND MIZUKO KUYŌ AS A BUDDIST PRACTICE ....................................................................................................................... 194 4.5 KOKESHI AND MIZUKO KUYŌ AS A SHINTO PRACTICE................... 202 4.6 KOKESHI AND FAMINE ............................................................................... 204 4.7 MATSUNAGA: KOKESHI MYTH MAKING ............................................. 206 4.8 KOKESHI KŌJIN: LATHE WORK AND PERSONAL CONNECTION WITH KOKESHI .............................................................................................................. 211 5.0 KOKESHI: MEANING AND INTERPRETATION ............................................ 223 vi 5.1 KOKESHI, WOMEN, AND KOKESHI-WOMEN: KEEPERS OF TRADITION ..................................................................................................................... 224 5.2 KOKESHI AS TŌHOKU AND JAPAN ......................................................... 228 5.3 KOKESHI IMBUED WITH TRADITION, NOSTALGIA, AND FURUSATO 233 5.4 KOKESHI, OSHIN, AND TRADITION ........................................................ 246 6.0 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 253 6.1 KOKESHI FUTURES ...................................................................................... 257 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................ 263 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................ 270 APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................ 272 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 276 vii LIST OF TABLES TABLE A 1: Chronology of Identified Traditional Kokeshi Strains by Author and Date ......... 265 TABLE A 2: Chronology of Identified Traditional Kokeshi Strains by Author and Date ......... 266 TABLE A 3: Chronology of Identified Traditional Kokeshi Strains by Author and Date ......... 267 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of Japan with Mentioned Prefectures. .................................................................. 3 Figure 2. Map of Tōhoku Prefectures and Main Kokeshi Production Areas. .............................. 35 Figure 3. Tsuchiyu Strain. ............................................................................................................ 38 Figure 4. Nakanosawa Sub-Strain ............................................................................................... 40 Figure 5. Tōgatta Strain . ............................................................................................................. 43 Figure 6. Back Sides of Tōgatta Kokeshi..................................................................................... 43 Figure 7. Yajirō Strain.................................................................................................................. 46 Figure 8. Yajirō Strain.................................................................................................................. 46 Figure 9. Narugo Strain. .............................................................................................................. 49 Figure 10. Sakunami Strain .......................................................................................................... 52 Figure 11. Hijiori Strain. .............................................................................................................. 54 Figure 12. Zaō Strain ................................................................................................................... 70 Figure 13. Yamagata Strain. ........................................................................................................ 57 Figure 14. Kijiyama Strain ........................................................................................................... 59 Figure 15. Nanbu Strain ............................................................................................................... 61 Figure 16. Tsugaru Strain. ........................................................................................................... 63 Figure
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