Mar 18 (Kyodo) - Interest in a gigantic inflatable "kokeshi" Japanese doll in Kyoto ballooned recently on social media when local authorities requested exhibition organizers to display it lying on its side.
The organizers had originally planned to set up the doll at the ROHM Theatre Kyoto in its usual vertical position but had to lay it down because the venue is within a designated zone of the city that requires special "consideration" be given to avoid anything interfering with the surrounding scenery.
The 12-meter tall kokeshi was created by the modern art duo Yotta, comprising Kimitaka Kisaki, a graduate of the Kyoto Institute of Technology, and Hiromichi Yamawaki, a graduate of the Kyoto University of Art and Design.
Named Hanako, the female doll was designed based on the shape and traditional decorative patterns of kokeshi from the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan, and even speaks once in a while, telling onlookers that it is hungry.
