Exhibition Room 1　Ningyo Production in Saitama

Exhibition Room 1　Ningyo Production in Saitama

Saitama Prefecture is Japan's largest producer of ningyo. lwatsuki, the home of this museum, developed into a major ningyo production center after World War II. Creating these works involves a division of labor, with superb craft skills employed in forming their faces and bodies.During the Edo period, the huge city of Edo generated enormous demand for ningyo. In response, production began in Musashi province (the old name for the region that includes Saitama Prefecture) in Konosu and Koshigaya, villages conveniently located for distributing the ningyo. Initially, making ningyo was a side business pursued in the agricultural off season, fulfilling orders from wholesalers in Edo. By the mid nineteenth century, however, Musashi had grown into a production center powerful enough to hold its own against these wholesalers. By the mid twentieth century, lwatsuki had become a major player, producing a variety of types of ningyo.This exhibition room introduces how ningyo are made, with a focus on ningyo from lwatsuki.