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March!
Has spring come to you yet? Peach blossom
in our back garden is in full bloom.
Probably you know something about
the Doll's
Festival of Japan. It is also
called the
Peach Festival. March the third
is the day
when we celebrate the festival
to pray for
the health and happiness of the
girls. We
decorate our Ohinasama dolls. About the tradition and history of
Ohinasama, you can easily find
quite a few
web-sites on the internet. So
I will skip
explanation here.
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| Akiko Inoue, 2002(age81) |
Instead, I would like to introduce
you a
Hakata-doll artist, who is a
good friend
of ours for a long time.
Her name is Akiko Inoue. She is 81 years old, and is still working
vigorously. You can see how beautiful
and
graceful she is.
Akiko was born in 1921 in Kyuragi Town near
Karatsu. Her aunt in Karatsu adopted her,
so Akiko grew up in Karatsu.
When she was 19, she got married to Chojiro,
a Hakata-doll craftsman.
She wanted to learn doll making, but Chojiro
did not like it. Akiko touched the clay and
studied at midnight secretly imitating her
husband's procedure.
In 1943, Chojiro went to the war. While he
was away, Akiko made dolls by putting colors
on Chojiro's molds. Chojiro's main motif
was "Beautiful women".
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| Chojiro's doll |
Chojiro survived the war, but the battlefield
had harmed his health.
Akiko had to struggle to support the family.
At the same time, she had to take care of
her children and the sick husband. Moreover,
Akiko had to find her own style of doll-art.
After years of endeavor, Akiko's doll won
a big prize. Chojiro was glad and satisfied
saying,"Now you can make living by doll."
He passed away in 1964.
In 1965, Akiko was admitted to learn from
the renowned Hakata-doll artist Yoichi Kojima.
Master Kojima advised Akiko to make dolls
in the theme of "Noh Play". It
was a great honor for a woman doll-artist.
But it was a hard challenge. She had to study
Noh itself, which was ever so difficult a
task with many rules in every detail.
In her career of almost 40 years of Noh-doll
making, Akiko was awarded Prime Minister's
Award three times, and The Minister of Trade
and Industry's Award twice. It is a very
rare case for a female artist in the traditional
world of Hakata-doll making.
Akiko was ordered in 1994, and
designated
as a "National Excellent
Skill Holder
of Traditional Art" in 1998.
Hidekazu Inoue, Akiko's son, has become a
famous Hakata-doll artist too, and her grandson
Kazuhiko is a promising young artist. Akiko
is happy and proud.
When I asked her, "What made you strong
enough to achieve such a wonderful career?",
she answered quietly, "I have a friend
who has always supported me."
"Do you mind if I ask who is the friend?"
"No," she said, "She is Ono-no-Komachi."
I was so surprised. Ono-no-Komachi was a
famous poetess in Heian period of thousand
years ago (792-1192). She was one of the
Rokkasen (Six Waka laureates) of the time.
Her personal history is not fully known.
She became a legend, and her poems were adored
time after time.
Noh writers were inspired by Komachi's mysterious
life, and many dramas were written with Komachi
as a center character.
Akiko's life-work is "Komachi".
The most beautiful woman ever lived. A woman
with so many love-gossips with noblemen.
The proud poetess who proved innocent when
accused to have copied an old poem. The most
tragic woman at the last stage of the long
life. Akiko tries to express every aspect
of Komachi's legendary life.
Akiko's Komachi dolls have brought her honors
of prize many times. The dolls invite people
into a Mugen World of Noh, which means somewhere between reality and
dreams.
It seems to me that this graceful Hakata-doll
artist is now living in her Mugen World. Her grandson Kazuhiko assured that Akiko
would live and keep on making
the dolls until
she is 100 years old.
Akiko laughed, and her shining smile was
as beautiful as her dolls.
→
Akiko's doll "So-shi Arai Komachi"
(Prime Minister's Award
, 1997)
Ootomo-no-Kuronushi, a laureate,
added Komachi's poem in an old Anthology
and accused her
that she stole a poem from the old book.
Komachi washed the book in water
and the newly-added letters vanished.
Komachi proved she was innocent. |
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←
Akiko's doll "Sotoba Komachi"
(Prime Minister's Award,1974)
(Komachi on the Stupa)
Color of the flower
Has already faded
away,
While in idle thoughts
My life passes vainly
by,
As I watch the long rains fall. |
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Thank you very much for your visit .
I wish you all the joy of the spring time. |
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Mail to Harumi Okochi 
