Nara Ningyo” is characterized by the powerful touch of a single sword digging. What is the meaning behind it?(Naraningyo)
Dolls carved and painted from wood such as hiba, camphor tree, katsura, and hinoki (cypress). They have been made mainly in Nara and are also called “Nara Itto-bori” (Nara Itto-bori carving) because of the powerful touch of the carving with a single sword. They are decorated with gold leaf and gofun (a kind of shellfish shell made from clam or oyster shells). The coloring is delicate and gorgeous, using gold leaf, gofun (white paint made from powdered shells of clams, oysters, etc.) and iwa-enogu (rock paint). It is said that the dolls were originally used in the ritual of dengaku, a type of rice dance dedicated at the Onmatsuri festival of Kasuga Taisha, and their history can be traced back to the Heian period (794-1185). Since these dolls were dedicated to the gods, they were carved with a single sword to keep them as clean as possible. Hina dolls and Chinese zodiac dolls were made and are still popular today.
