culture corner: Legends of Ningyo

What one culture might think is frivolous, another might view seriously. In the case of Japan’s long-running interest in ningyo, or dolls, this is particularly true. In Japan, ningyo aren’t just playthings for children, but historical artifacts and talismans symbolic of a deep cultural superstition.

The first dolls made in Japan date back in history to the Jomon period circa 10,000 BC. These figurines were made of clay or stone and evolved over thousands of years, becoming more versatile in sizes, materials, and uses. Dollmaking reached its pinnacle during the Edo Period with the development of many different types of uniquely styled dolls, increasingly elaborate costumes (both painted and material), and the advent of technologically advanced karakuri ningyo, or mechanical dolls. These rudimentary robots moved on their own by a system of pulleys, gears, and cables. By the early 1900s, dollmaking was recognized nationally as an exceptional art form, and several dollmakers were designated ningen kokuho, or living national treasures.

While their history of ningyo is rich, it is the lore, the strange beliefs and legends associated with Japanese dolls, that make them so mystical. For hundreds of years ningyo have been regarded as empty vessels capable of absorbing sins, malevolence, bad luck, or diseases from humans. Hina Matsuri, the “Girl’s Day” holiday celebrated with ritual displays of dolls, began as a festival where every person—man, woman, and child—would create an effigy, thereby transferring through touch their own sickness or trouble to the doll.The dolls were then thrown into a river, sweeping away the negativity.

Other beliefs hold that dolls have souls of their own. This can particularly be found in the ayatsuri ningyo (puppets) used in bunraku, or puppet theater.These large puppets, although manipulated by talented puppet masters, are deeply respected for their own individual souls and the personality they bring to their performances.

The popular kokeshi doll has an especially eerie mystique. A favorite souvenir and collector’s item, these cylindrical wooden dolls are connected with a gloomy past. Tales say these dolls were made to memorialize children of rural families who died due to wide-spread famine and disease. A doll was kept in the home of a mourning family—a placeholder for the lost child. Because of the tragic aura surrounding kokeshi dolls, they are widely believed to be haunted by lost souls, and not just of children. Some believe more malevolent forces inhabit these dolls, a powerful superstition that explains the strange stories some kokeshi collectors tell of their dolls moving—sometime slightly, sometimes across rooms— when left alone.

Not all dolls symbolize negativity, however. Many dolls are cherished as good luck charms or for bringing specific fortunes to their human carriers. Fertility, romance, and wealth are just some of the blessings dolls can bestow.

The next time you see a Japanese doll, be it in a souvenir shop or museum, take a moment to study it. Her painted eyes might not be as lifeless as you once thought.

—Richenda Sandlin-Tymitz