Stuffed Folk Toy - Pheasant

Hida-Takayama is the centre of wooden furniture production in Japan and to many expert woodworkers. In order to avoid wasting the scrapwood left behind by the production of furnitures, some of them are made into printing block. Woodblock printing is an age-old method of printing in the Asian continent, which was adopted by Japan during the Edo-period (1603-1868 CE) for printing books and creating decorations and painting on paper and canvas alike. The relief of the patterns is carved by hand into the wooden blocks which can only be used for one colour at a time. The patterns and colours hand-printed on the cotton fabric show the many varieties of woodblocks carved to carefully create each of these hand-sewn toys. Once the colours and patterns are transferred onto the fabric, it is then dried using steam. The inside of the toys is filled with natural rice hulls, which is the hard, protective covering of rice grains.

This particular toy takes the shape of a colourful pheasant, one of the many species of bird often seen in the area of Hida-Takayama.

Avoid moisture and open flames.

Size: L19 cm x W5.5 cm x H11 cm

Chūbu

The central Chūbu region is predominantly mountainous, home to the rugged Japan Alps with coasts on both the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. The region's history has been shaped by its strategic position between the great cities of Kyoto and Tokyo with Nagoya at its heart. Niigata lies to the north while Mt Fuji can be found in the south in Shizuoka Prefecture.