Kyoto Japanese Folk Dolls Museum

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Some 4,000 dolls made in Kyoto - including the much-sought-after Kiyomizu dolls - are listed as Tangible Folk Cultural Assets

A place specializing in dolls from old

This museum is home to a collection of around 200,000 dolls. They come in all shapes and sizes, from the beautifully white skinned “Gosho dolls” redolent of chigo, the painted-up children present in historical festivals; the “Kamo dolls” by the general staff at Kamo Shrine, no more than three centimeters tall and showing off the wood grains from the tree roots they are made of; the “Saga dolls”, the regent of dolls, gorgeously carved and gold painted; the “Zashiki karakuri dolls”, the forerunners of robots, with their wind-up mechanisms so fascinating (museum staff explain the construction of these dolls and demonstrate how they work), right through to the “Fushimi dolls”, the origin of local dolls around the country.
Every year, from mid-February to the start of April, the museum stages a Hina-ten, or doll festival exhibition, displaying dolls from the Imperial Court and other dolls and furnishings enjoyed by the samurai class and the general public of yore.