Papier-mache Figurine - Tatsu

This paper-mâché dragon, a good luck talisman created in celebration of 2024, the Year of the Dragon, was produced at the Good Job! Center in Kashiba, Nara Prefecture.

The centre aims to generate employment opportunities within art, design, and business for people with disabilities. By fostering collaboration between designers, local manufacturers, and people with disabilities, the centre hopes to introduce their distinctive creative expressions to a wide audience.

This figurine represents a dragon, negaitatsu (ねがいたつ), an auspicious symbol that ascends from the sea to the sky, bringing wishes for happiness from above.

Individual pieces vary in colour and size as each piece is handmade.

W 4.8cm × H 10.5cm × D 68mm

Kansai

The Kansai region includes the second-most populated metropolitan area in Japan with its largest city Osaka. Kyoto and Nara, two of Japan’s former capital cities, are home to important temples and shrines and strongholds of intangible cultural heritage, such as the Kyoto textile weaving skills of Nishijin.