Dolls | Japanese House Exhibit | Boston Children's Museum

Japanese dolls were one of the first items that the Museum collected, and they continue to be an important part of the collection today. Miss Kyoto-fu, a gift from the Committee on World Friendship Among Children, arrived at the Boston Children's Museum in 1928 (see the Miss Kyoto Collections page). Miss Kyoto is joined by our collection of Hinamatsuri dolls, honoring the Girls' Day Festival held annually on March 3, as well as a variety of other types of Japanese dolls ranging from delicate paper to ceramic and wooden dolls. Do you see a doll that you would want to play with?

Name	Description	Object ID
Miharu Ningyo	This painted papier-mâché Miharu ningyo (doll) represents a dancing female figure. She is wearing a brightly colored kimono in red, yellow, green, pale blue, dark blue, lavender and white, and holds an open sensu (folding fan) above her head in her right arm. The ...	2009.102.1
Kintaro Doll	This ceramic male warrior doll depicts the folk hero Kintaro, the Golden Boy. He is characteristically chubby, and is painted in skin tones with white fingers and toenails. His long, black synthetic hair is topped with a black ceramic hat, held on by white nylon rope. Kintaro is positioned in a...	2009.108.1
Anesama Ningyō Doll	This is a paper anesama ningyō ("big sister doll"). Her head and voluminous hair are made from twisted white paper. Her kimono is made from an inner sheet of folded red paper under an outer layer of folded red paper with a white floral pattern, and her obi...	2009.132.1
Costume Doll (Ishō Ningyō)	This isho-ningyo ("costume doll") represents a geisha performing a fan dance. She wears a furisode kimono, a type of kimono with floor-length sleeves intended for unmarried women. There are two layers of kimono, each with a puffed...	2009.72.1.1
Egg Dolls	This pair of dolls is made from chicken eggs by an artist named Setsuko Miki. The pair includes one boy and one girl egg doll, each dressed in traditional Japanese costume. The boy doll (2010.9.1) has a tuft of hair at the top of his head, drawn-on features, and wears a black silk floral print...	2010.9.1-2
Kokeshi Doll	This kokeshi doll, a traditional Japanese doll consisting of only a body and a head, is decorated with kusudama and fukinagashi, traditional decorations for the Tanabata summer star festival. The doll is painted with black hair tied in pigtails with red bows, red and...	2013.XX.30 a
Doll	This small doll, representing a woman in a kimono holding a shamisen, is made almost entirely from silk moth cocoons, with some bamboo possibly used on the shamisen and at the neck for support. The woman's kimono is purple with a floral pattern of flowers and...	AB 56-2
Yamabushi Doll	This figurine of a yamabushi (mountain priest) is made of composition (heads, hands, and feet) and cloth (rest of the body). Yamabushi are mountain hermits, believed to have supernatural powers. The figure is bald with side whiskers and wears the small black cap...	AB 56-4 c
Fuji Musume Doll	This female doll is named Fuji-Musume, the "Wisteria Maiden," and represents a popular character from kabuki theater. Dating from the 1950s, the doll wears a yellow kimono with a blue, white, and green floral pattern, and an orange and gold embroidered silk obi...	AB 57-1
Geisha Doll	This doll represents a geisha. Her body is made of painted silk over composition. Her facial features (eyebrows, eyelids, flushed cheeks, and red lips) are painted, dyed and molded. Silk ear lobes show under her black hair and her eyelashes are set in. The doll's black hair is worn in...	AB 62-2 s4
Ichimatsu Ningyo Doll	This doll, named O-hana-san, is an ichimatsu ningyo, a doll meant for play rather than for display. The doll's face and body parts are painted ceramic. She has short, chin-length hair, glass eyes, and an open mouth showing teeth that are just coming in. She is made to look...	AB 658 a
Hairdressing Doll	This doll, named The Hanako, has six wigs in different hairstyles, all stored in a blond wooden box with seven compartments(for the doll and for her six wigs). The composition doll has a bald head, and is dressed in a pink flowered kimono. Her head is painted white and she has glass...	AB 73-1
The Tongue-Cut Sparrow Dolls	This set of two dolls tells the story of "The Tongue-Cut Sparrow," a traditional Japanese folktale. The first figure (a) represents the old man from the story, whose humility is rewarded by the second figure (b), the Lady Tongue-Cut Sparrow. They both appear to be made of a composition-like...	AB 739 a,b
Kintaro Doll	This Kintaro warrior doll is part of a Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day; formerly Tango no Sekku, Boys' Day) festival set. His composition face is painted pink and he has glass inset eyes. Kintaro wears a painted black headdress with white paper and floral decorations, a red jacket, and gold and...	AB 75-2
Minzoku Ningyo	This pair of Minzoku ningyo (folk dolls), made by the fiber artist Sumako Cohn, represents a male and a female farmer dressed in traditonal garb. The male doll (AB 82-30) is wearing black trousers, zori (straw sandals), a green-and-blue striped top, an apron underneath and a...	AB 82-30 and AB 82-31
Kokeshi Doll	This kokeshi doll is a traditional Japanese wooden doll consisting of only a head and a body. This particular doll is of the Tōgatta type. The body features a floral design depicting three chrysanthemums painted in red and a faint purple band around its shoulder and waist....	AB 85-14
Kokeshi Doll	This kokeshi doll, made by the artist Yonezo Sato (b. 1909) is a traditional Japanese wooden doll consisting of only a head and a body. This particular doll is of the Togatta type. The top portion of the body is a very thick bell shape with rounded shoulders; the bottom portion is...	AB 85-23
Kokeshi Doll	This kokeshi doll is a traditional Japanese wooden doll consisting of only a head and a body. This particular doll, made by Chushichi Saito (b. 1917), is of the Tsuchiyu type: the body is thick and very stable. The branch from which the doll was made has been left uncarved...	AB 85-26
Kokeshi Doll	This kokeshi doll is a traditional Japanese wooden doll consiting of only a head and a body. This particular doll is of the Nakanosawa group, a subset of the Tsuchiyu type. It features a long, thin body that is slightly convex and a very large head with a flat top....	AB 85-31
Kokeshi Doll	This kokeshi doll is a traditional Japanese wooden doll consisting of only a body and a head. This particular doll, made by Tzutae Sato (b. 1906), is of the Yajiro type: it has a long, thin body and a large head that is wide at the top. The body has a faded yellow background...	AB 85-33
Doll	This girl doll has a composition head, glass eyes, and black, shoulder-length hair with bangs. Her eyelashes and lips are painted. She wears two (possibly even three) layers of clothing, perhaps made out of silk or cotton. If silk, her robe is a kimono; if cotton, she is wearing the...	AB 868 a
Izumeko Doll	This izumeko, or baby doll in a basket, features a boy doll who is just chest and head underneath a gold brocade blanket and sitting on a red pillow. The blanket and pillow are tucked into a woven straw basket. A miniature izumeko made from an acorn nut shell is attached to...	AB 89-10
Okagura Ningyo (Mask-Dance Doll)	This Okagura Ningyo, or "Mask-Dance Doll," is a small plaster actor doll with a set of six masks. "Okagura" refers to a traditional Japanese Shinto dance. The set, likely made by the former company Shirokiya, comes in a cardboard box. The front of the lid features an...	AB XX 170
Kokeshi Doll	This pair of small kokeshi dolls represents a boy and a girl. They dolls are a variation on the traditional kokeshi form, with round heads and bodies, but no arms or legs, as is typical. The heads are joined to the bodies by a dowel, and can swivel around. The boy (a) is...	AB XX 177 a,b