The 31st Creative Café presents the online film premiere of “Yamagata Kokeshi – Artisans of Tradition and Innovation,” a short documentary film produced through our local creative project “Yamagata Renaissance Project.” The project produces a series of films that introduce the appeal of Yamagata’s traditional culture and supports local film talents.

Kokeshi are handmade wooden dolls distinguished by a single trunk and head, with their faces and clothing painted.

It is said that the traditional kokeshi dolls, which were created in hot spring resorts in the Tohoku region, were first made as children’s toys by a plain-wood worker. Among the 11 Kokeshi lineages, three lineages of traditional kokeshi are still inherited in Yamagata Prefecture, and each artisan has added their ideas to preserve the kokeshi culture.