My Favorite Mino

One of my favorite Kokeshi reminds me of the little boy in Yannick Puig's animation "I Lived on the Moon," (posted below). The artist's name is Muhitsu Yokige. The outer wrapping of the doll is called a "mino", sometimes actual straw is used and other times, like the example above, the wood is carved as a separate shell.

"(The mino) is an article of clothing worn to protect the farmers and rural peoples of the mountains from rain and snow." - Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan
I came across this specific doll in the book, "Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan". The authors/publishers are two ex-professors and the owners of Vermillion Asian Arts, Michael Evans and Robert Wolf. I recently spoke with Wolf about his book and he shared some stories regarding it's creation. One thing I found especially interesting is that it's the only English language book on Kokeshi. I hope to change that by having my own book published with all the the art from the Kokeshi group art show I'm curating. (Detailed information regarding the Kokeshi group show will be posted.)