Japanese Kokeshi Doll Starter Set from Japan — Three Hand-Turned Tohoku Dolls & Display Stand, with English Guide

For two hundred years, woodturners in the hot-spring villages of northern Japan have shaped these dolls on a foot-powered lathe — one doll from one piece of wood, no joins, no glue. Kokeshi have no arms and no legs. What they have is a face, painted freehand in seconds by someone who has painted it ten thousand times, and a grain that deepens in colour as the years pass. This set starts you with three, from three different regional lineages, so you can see the differences collectors argue about.

What's inside:

• Three traditional kokeshi dolls, 10–13 cm, each hand-turned from kiln-dried mizuki dogwood

• One doll each in the Naruko, Zao and Tsuchiyu styles — the three most recognisable Tohoku lineages

• A natural wood display stand sized for all three

• A 16-page English guide: the eleven regional lineages, how to read a maker's signature, and how to care for and display the dolls

• Each doll signed underneath by its workshop, as tradition requires

Price includes all duties and import taxes — nothing to pay when it arrives.

Gift-wrapped in washi paper, ready to give.