Description
- Please note that this is an old item, so some dust stains, age spots and scratches are part of the charm of old tools.
- Please note that it is sensitive to water.
- Please check the condition of used items with the pictures in advance. If you have any questions, please be sure to contact us before purchase.
- No returns after purchase. Please make your purchase after careful consideration.
The Nipopo doll was created by giving the name “Nipopo” to a carved wooden kokeshi doll designed based on Sewa Pororo, a traditional wooden doll of the Sakhalin indigenous people.
Nipopo” means “little wooden child” or “doll” in Ainu folklore, and has been treasured by the Ainu people as a “good luck charm” to protect them from illness and injury, as they believed it would grant any wish and bring them happiness.
In 1954, when there was a shortage of work for prisoners at Abashiri Prison, Mr. Kioe Yonemura, director of the Abashiri Local Museum, invented the idea of making dolls, and two years later, in 1956, Abashiri City promoted the idea, and the doll became a tourist souvenir of Abashiri City.
Even today, Abashiri Prison inmates hand-carve the dolls one by one out of an enju tree to express their wish for rehabilitation, and they are a unique souvenir sold only in Abashiri.
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