Please identify these Japanese ladies for me

July 28, 2018 2:30 PM

I inherited these five bamboo Japanese ladies which were made sometime between WWI and WW2. Any information re their use much appreciated. Link
posted by lungtaworld to Society & Culture (6 answers total)

I don't know anything about those figures, but I do want to say that it's no longer appropriate to refer to people as "Oriental". The preferred term is "Asian" or, in this case, simply "Japanese".
posted by spindrifter at 2:48 PM on July 28, 2018 [13 favorites]

Mod note: Changed "Oriental" to "Japanese."
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 3:44 PM on July 28, 2018 [8 favorites]

Best answer: I'm not sure if your pieces fall under this category, but there is a traditional Japanese craft of bamboo doll making called takeningyo. If I had to guess I would say you have some examples of that made as souvenirs for travelers or maybe GIs after the war.
posted by Think_Long at 7:36 AM on July 29, 2018

Best answer: I am only hazarding a guess here, but could they have been used as incense holders?
posted by itsflyable at 4:55 PM on July 29, 2018

Best answer: I'm not sure what they are used for but the four in front are modeled after Japanese folk dancers wearing traditional hats.
posted by whitelotus at 9:59 PM on July 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I asked a friend at work who says (as whitelotus says):

Small dancing dolls. The straw hats are from Sado Island, the one with cone is wearing a hat I associate with Shinto rites and the round red one I vaguely remember as a flower dance. It was so elaborate I didn’t do it, so it might be Kyoto. Why they have those little bamboo segments fastened in front I don’t know.
posted by gudrun at 6:53 AM on July 30, 2018