Japanese Culture Presented to Tbilisi Through Dolls
“Sometimes when I want to express my feelings or celebrate something I put my kimono on but unfortunately I was misunderstood several times. Georgia and Japan really have a good relationship but we are so far from each other that we know little about each other. By holding the exhibition of Japanese ningio toys I am trying to introduce us,” Mrs. Junko Kamohara, wife of Masayoshi Kamohara, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Georgia, said at the opening of this exhibition at the Tbilisi History Museum (Karvasla) on 23 October.
This is the first cultural event of the Japanese Embassy in Georgia supported by the Georgian National Museum and Tbilisi History Museum. The exhibition consisted of about 50 ningio toys from the private collection of Mrs. Junko Kamohara. It will be open to visitors until 1 November and any interested person can familiarise themselves with Japanese culture and tradition free of charge.
Though in the Japanese language the word “ningio” means a human figure it is generally translated as ‘toy’. Most traditional ningios are not made for children but are the expression of respect and adoration.
“This exhibition is something like a visiting card for me because through it I want to present Japanese culture and tradition to the Georgian People,” Mrs. Kamohara commented. She added that ningios are not just toys for Japanese people, they are accessories. “Though their translation in English is usually toy, to us they are dolls, and some kind of symbol. We have a tradition of giving relatives ningios as a present, when a baby is born and at different celebrations,” she said.
Mrs. Kamohara said that the ningios also have symbolic meanings as they represent different things: a talisman of productivity, a mourner at a funeral, a protector of children, a temporary burial vault for souls. Very seldom are they also children’s toys, but relatives give them when a baby is born and thus express their wishes for the child. “They say that we want the newborn child to have a happy and healthy life. We give a newborn boy the fighter ningio as we wish him to be strong,” Mrs. Kamohara explained.
The Ambassador’s wife admitted that she loves them all but has a particular favourite. “The woman making a carpet is very rare and I was given it by a friend. It was first time I had seen one. They show the life of our people and what we do” she said.
The curator of the Tbilisi History Museum, Lika Mamatsashvili, said that ever since the Japanese Embassy in Georgia opened it had had the desire to hold a Japanese cultural event and after seeing the halls of the museum they decided to hold it in the museum. She added that the chosen exhibition is the best way to see what kind of traditions the country has. “There is always a great interest in foreign cultures in Georgia and it was not surprising that so many people came today,” she said.
In the early eleventh century several types of dolls had already been created in Japan, as known from Lady Murasaki's novel The Tale of Genji. Girls played with dolls and doll’s houses; women made protective dolls for their children or grandchildren; dolls were used in religious ceremonies, taking on the sins of a person they had touched. They include the Okiagari-koboshi, roly-poly toys made from papier-mâché, dating back to at least the 14th century. They are good luck charms and symbols of perseverance and resilience.
The first professional doll makers were probably temple sculptors, who used their skill to make painted wooden images of children (Saga dolls). The possibilities of this art form, using carved wood or wood composition, a shining white "skin" lacquer called gofun made from ground oystershell and glue, and textiles, were vast.
