the youth of the upper classes. Although they are generally considered to have largely been created as a play toy, it is possible that wakagimi gosho were also given as gifts in conjunction with the hakama-gi ceremony held in the child's fifth year. Part of the shichi-go-san (seven-five-three) celebrations which punctuated a child's progression from infancy to adulthood, the hakama-gi (Assumption of the Trousers) witnessed a child's shedding of more childish clothes and the wearing of adult hakama-style trousers for the first time. This event was traditionally celebrated with great pomp and was considered one of the more significant events in a child's life.
Clothing for children was divided between that required for everyday use and for ceremonial occasions. The clothes were often not very different from those of adults, except for the size. Beginning at birth, a child wore what was referred to as ubugi. A different version was used for the ceremonies that immediately followed the birth as well as for the child's first visit to a shrine. As a child grew, he/she would then wear a hitotsumi until the age of three, the back decorated with a protective charm called a semamori, sometimes in the shape of the Seimei kikyo (pentagonal star developed by the tenth century yin/yang specialist Abe Seimei). From age three, a child adopted a more standard jurisode kimono for daily wear, with a seam in the back to allow for adjustments in size as the child grew. The hakama-gi originated in the Heian period during the tenth century and was held for both girls and boys of that age. As fashions changed over the centuries, however, particularly with the advent of the kosode kimono as the principal form of women's clothing during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the hakama-gi gradually became more narrowly viewed as a male rite.
Children playing with dolls, from Ehon kiku gasane, Kitao Sekkōsai (1716-80), wood-block printed book.
Yoshitoku Doll Company
A variation on the wakagimi form is the prince and princess gosho, called wakagimi-himegimi (see page 68) The wakagimi prince remains fundamentally attired as described above, but is paired with a standing female princess figure (himegimi) clothed in a rich kosode kimono. The princess figure is typically crafted with the female sex to aid in the identification of the figure as feminine. The fact that gosho-ningyō of the early to mid-Edo period are almost without exception male, makes the introduction of the himegimi form in the late eighteenth century a noticeable departure from tradition. Typically, the himegimi princess is depicted with the looping chigowa hairstyle. She is clothed in a full uchikake outer kimono with kosode narrow sleeve openings and a long trailing hemline. The shoulders of the uchikake are sometimes decorated with family crests. Underneath, secured by a wide obi, is a kosode kimono. The overall look is elegant and refined.
The popularity of these figures is attested to by the number of extant examples dating from the late eighteenth century through the beginning of the Meiji period. Just as other gosho forms benefited from certain technical developments, so too did the wakagimi and wakagimi-himegimi forms. By the early nineteenth century, mitsuore (triple-jointed) figures emerged, allowing for even greater flexibility in the position of the figures and the changing of clothes. Although the introduction of glass eyes in ningyō of all types occurred around the mid-nineteenth century, the gosho-ningyō category as a whole seemed to resist this trend. Examples of wakagimi and wakagimi-himegimi gosho with glass eyes are extremely rare. The pair on page 68 are very unusual, combining the mitsuore construction technique which allows the figures to be positioned free-standing, kneeling, or seated, with the use of glass eyes.
Mitsuore Nodding Gosho-ningyō
The mitsuore or three-jointed ningyō are cleverly constructed with joints at the hips, the knees, and the ankles. Traditional gosho are static in that they are either carved as standing, kneeling, sitting, or crawling. By developing this multiple joint system, ningyō artists created the ability for these figures to be placed in several different positions, greatly facilitating the changing of clothes. This step led gradually towards a significant shift in the way in which ningyō were perceived: away from felicitous objects of display towards "dolls" designed to be handled and manipulated. The Ichimatsu-ningyō so famous today are the natural outgrowth of this development.
It is difficult to know exactly when mitsuore-ningyō began to be produced. Isho (fashion) ningyō artists were experimenting with ways to give greater flexibility to their creations as early as the opening decades of the eighteenth century. A standing female figure dated to 1717 in the Tokyo National Museum has wire arms that allow her kimono to be removed. The legs and body, however, are crafted of wood and are in a fixed position. Woodblock prints from later in the century again show women dressing and undressing ishō-ningyō with arms that look somewhat more flexible; the lower body, however, appears to remain static.
By the early nineteenth century, silk crepe was being employed in the upper arms which gave them greater flexibility. Kubota Beisai attributed this development to the iki-ningyō (living doll) artist Matsumoto Kisaburo (1826-92) early in his career. However, a surimono (limited edition New Years print) by Totoya Kokei (1780-1850), dated 1818, features an unclothed female ishō-ningyō with fabric upper arms and joints at the hips and knees, although the ankles appear to be fixed. The accompanying verse by Kinshitei Orikata is interesting in light of the structure of the ningyō:
| deku motte | A young maiden |
| otome wa ham no | holding a wooden doll |
| hi atari ni | bares her knees |
| hizakozo made | as she plays in the sun |
| dashite asoberi | on a fine spring day |
The doll is portrayed without clothes, her knee joints exposed, lending another layer of meaning to the poem, possibly focusing on this new development in ningyō manufacture. Based on extant examples, the carry over of multiple joint construction to gosho-ningyō appears to date from approximately the same period.
The development of the hip and knee joints radically changed the nature of these figures, allowing them to be placed in many different positions. The style of knee joints varied, and this partially influenced the ningyō's ability to stand upright without a prop. The squared-off knee joint, sometimes referred to as a "gosho-style" knee, was the most stable. In this configuration, both the upper leg and the lower leg are squared off where they meet at the knee, and a pin-like hinging mechanism is inserted at the back, which allows the lower leg to fold back under itself. When standing, the two pieces mesh flatly together. Alternative versions substituted a bamboo dowel that passed from side to side of the knee with silk crepe cover patches to hide the pinhead. Instead of meshing flatly, a knee cap-like extension of the upper thigh helped to stabilize the leg. However, structurally, this style was consistently less stable.
The addition of a pivoting ankle aided in several ways. When kneeling, the feet could be turned outward, allowing the piece to kneel more closely to the ground rather than resting high on its toes, and thereby reducing the risk of damage to the more fragile feet and toes. When positioning a figure in the upright position, the feet could be turned slightly outward to also help stabilize the piece. Ultimately, however, the overall inherent balance of the figure was also crucial to its ability to stand unaided. The majority of Edo mitsuore, whether gosho or ishō, seem to have this capacity. Meiji and later works usually lack this inherent balance and must remain propped regardless of joint construction.
The gosho-ningyō at right is of the mitsuore type. It is also a nodder (kubifuri), the construction of which required slightly different techniques. Rather than crafted of a single piece of wood, the figure is made of papier mâché with a hollow head separate from the hollow body. The head rests on a
