Mamoru Izu born on March 21, 1925, in Ginzan Shinhata as the fourth son of Izu Kurataro. His elder brother, Sadao, learned woodcarving from Ando Reitaro when the Yamagata Prefecture Woodcarving Workshop was held in Ginzan in 1922 and 1924. This unusual style of the doll is known as a Ginzan Kokeshi, which is a substrain of the Naruko Family of dolls. Naruko dolls are one of the most well-known families and are defined by their straight-shaped body, narrowing slightly at the waist. As shown here, there are red Chrysanthemum, (kiku), hand-painted on the front of the body. There are small Rokoru moya varied circular bands in red framing the top and bottom of the doll. Bangs are expressively detailed with hair fringes being a definitive feature of the head, with very expressive eyes and a marubana, (round nose) and red lips. Around 1970, he started to create his own styles. He passed away on May 17, 2019, at the age of 95
