Kokeshi dolls, second hands, are a feature of antique markets. When they come by crowds, they gather like well behaved school children for the commemorative class picture. Or they stay put, alone.

As you can read in the Miyagi Zao Kokeshi-kan museum flyer, “An encounter with Kokeshi makes you feel calm and happy for no particular reason.”

The key here is “no particular reason”. Kokeshi dolls stand high in the ranking of totally useless, but necessary artifacts of traditional crafts.

Kinakina Kokeshi are white, featureless. I don’t know the name of this one, black, bruised because it has had a life, made shiny by wax now drying.