Hina Dolls | 雛（ひな）人形

The Hina dolls you see here were hand crafted by Mr. Kazunori Hirasawa. Born into a family of traditional Japanese lacquer artist (Urushi-nuri), Mr. Hirasawa remains one of the, if not thee greatest living and most highly respected Wajima-nuri artists in Japan and recognized internationally/world wide. After having spent a lifetime honing his craft for which he has received multiple national awards and prizes in his field, he is now finally retired at the age of 78.

Condition: These Hirasawa creation Hina dolls have never been displayed, other than to take these photos for this eBay post. They were purchased in 2007, while in Japan. They’ve since been kept in their original wooden box, in a smoke free environment. That said, these dolls are in pristine/perfect condition. The female doll still has the original paper wrap around her hair in order to protect and maintain its shape. 

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Further reading…

Awards

At least 12 of Hirasawa's aforementioned awards are described in his brief biography (see photos). He has also been a member of the Organization of Composite Artists in Japan and his artwork is highly valued. Just before he stopped creating his art, his main focus was placed on the Hina dolls that you now see here - they are among his very last projects. For these final Hina doll creations, he managed to persuade his wife to paint the faces.

The “Portable Shrine” is commonly used during historical Japanese festivals where several traditionally garbed Japanese men carry around a small shrine placed atop two horizontally laid wooden polls - it’s considered a very high honor. Due to his amazing art, Mr. Hirasawa was commissioned to paint the shrine chosen for display at Japans famous Fall Festival in Hyogo prefecture.

Hina Dolls

These traditional “Odairisama -&- Ohinasama” (Prince -&- Princess) Japanese Hina dolls are normally displayed during the traditional Japanese Girls' Festival known as Hina Matsuri - as celebrated on March 3rd of every year. Hina dolls are often sold in a set of 15 dolls, which include a huge sliding display table and several small pieces of furniture, dishes and so on - all of which requires much space (to display and store) and time (to set-up and maintain). The prince & princes are the two principal items in the set and sit atop the other thirteen dolls. The style of having these two pieces being displayed alone (without the other dolls, extras, etc.), has become quite popular because it changes the entire atmosphere/dynamics of the room by taking up only a very small amount of space - while at the same time greatly reducing the amount of time required to set up the two item display. IOW, by comparison, the two Hina dolls on display here are rather easy to set up and take care of.

Finishing Method

The Hina Dolls you see here were coated, or “lacquered” using a method known as Wajima-nuri. Wajima-nuri is a type of Urushi-nuri which is a lacquer coating. There are several different ways of applying an Urushi-nuri type finish. That said, it is no exaggeration to say that the “Wajima-nuri” way of finishing is one of the most famous and beautiful of all the traditional methods used in order to finish/preserve various fine items - including Hina dolls.

* Regarding Urushi-nuri… http://www.nihon-kogeikai.com/TEBIKI-E/3.html
* Regarding Wajima-rui… http://www.stutler.cc/pens/wajima/ -&- http://shofu.pref.ishikawa.jp/shofu/wajima_e/history.html

Company

 These dolls were previously available from a company named “Hakujyu”, located in Wajima-City Japan. Hakujyu is one of the most famous of the Wjima-nuri companies in Japan. The Wajima-nuri method of finishing is named after the city that developed it.

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