Posted 4 years ago
lexib
(1 item)
My mother has had this a couple decades now . Received it from a Japanese exchange student in the 90s I believe. Just looking for more information regarding in or maybe if anyone knows what the little stand says that'd be awesome!
Looks like Japanese ichimatsu doll. Sorry mom didn't teach me how to read Japanese. Wish I did because she was an award winning Senryu master.
I can help a little bit with the sign. The four large kanji (Japanese characters) running from top to bottom on the RIGHT side of the sign simply read "Ichimatsu ningyo" - Ichimatsu doll.
As for the two large kanji at bottom left, I believe they say Kyugetsu. This is the name of a prominent doll company/"doll academy" in Tokyo. When I Googled the words 'kyugetsu' and 'ichimatsu', I found an ichimatsu doll (currently for sale on eBay) that's identified as a Kyugetsu doll. Not only is the style strikingly similar to yours, it features a sign whose 6 large kanji are identical to the ones on your sign! In short, I think this sign identifies the company.
I am not sure about the smaller writing at upper left, but I'm guessing perhaps they are the name of the individual who made this particular doll? Or perhaps it's the name of the model. The bottom one looks like the hiragana character 'fu' but as the whole string is written very freely, it's hard to make out. (Not to mention I don't actually read Japanese ;)
P.S. Here's a link to a blog with a photo of a Kyugetsu ichimatsu doll:
https://nihon-no-ningyou.tumblr.com/post/92278076810/an-ichimatsu-doll-made-by-the-kyugetsu-doll
My girlfriend has a twin to this doll that also came in a large glass case too. O: Hers came with pictures of the previous owner of the doll and some of her students (we think she was a student at that academy [just going off of what rhine said :3])