A beautifully decorated vintage Togatta Kokeshi by Masao Omiya 大宮正男, a respected craftsman of the Togatta tradition in Miyagi Prefecture.
This doll has a classic Togatta form, with a large rounded head and a long cylindrical body. The face is finely painted with arched brows, narrow eyes, a delicate nose, and a small red mouth, creating a gentle and composed expression. Around the head, bold red and black brushwork forms the traditional hair decoration associated with the Togatta lineage.
The body is richly decorated with repeated red floral motifs and green leaves, arranged in a rhythmic vertical pattern. At the back, a particularly charming iris motif (ayame / 菖蒲) appears near the base, painted in red and green. The iris is a familiar seasonal motif in Japanese art, associated with early summer and admired for its elegant, upright form.
Masao Omiya was born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, in 1923, and moved to his father’s hometown of Togatta at the age of five. In 1938, he began an apprenticeship under the established kokeshi craftsman Yoshiaki Sato 佐藤好秋, where he learned traditional woodturning and kokeshi-making techniques.
After wartime military service, Omiya returned to Togatta and later established his own workshop in Shinchi Higashiura. Over the course of his career, he produced a wide range of turned wooden objects, including spinning tops, creative kokeshi, and traditional kokeshi. From around 1960 to 1975, he also operated a factory producing badminton equipment for export, before later devoting himself more fully to traditional kokeshi making. He continued producing dolls until around 2003 and passed his woodturning knowledge on to younger craftsmen, including his brother Toru Omiya and his apprentice Katsuji Hirama.
Size: 10 x 10 x 35cm
