Making of Kokeshi Dolls

In the video, Yasuo Okazaki woodturns solid blocks into the head and body using just a few tools. Okazaki’s “Naruko” style of making the dolls.

This is similar to the Channapatna lathe turned wooden dolls. Lathe turned crafts were not unlnown to India and Indian artists. We can still see hand-turned wooden game-counters and other highly artistic wooden utensils created in this craftform in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Massive chlorite schist pillars with beautiful rings in the Hoysala temples are proof of lathe turning techniques using elephants.

Mysore Maharaja sent artists from Mysore to Japan to learn modern process of wooden turning (As seen in the video) before 1950s. Upgrading their skills, artists returned to Mysore and taught the same to local artisans and set up small units to manufacture. 

Artist M.J. Shuddodhana was one of the artists who was sent to Japan and later he worked in Channapatna for a few years. At Channapatna, Shuddodhana invited two of his best students - G.L.N. Simha and another person to embellish the products with paintings.