Blue runny nose
Blue runny nose
What I want to talk about: The Gongen Festival during the feudal era was extremely grand. With permission from the feudal Lord, those who wore the “Blue runny nose Masks” during the procession were allowed to say any insult to anyone they wanted, regardless of their background. Therefore, these masks were often bid on and worn by individuals with grudges against others.
Yanagiya is a workshop in Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture, that has been making local toys for 86 years, from 1928 to 2014. The name “Yanagiya” comes from the proverb, “Willow trees never break in the snow. Tatsunosuke Tanaka, the founder of Yanagiya, created toys based on the history and legends of the Inaba region, and also devoted himself to restoring toys that had fallen into disuse, researching and creating them with his wife, Toshiko. He and his wife, Toshiko, continued to research and create toys together. The work, which embodied the company name, was passed on to his daughter and her husband, who created more than 50 different types of toys, including Japanese paper mache masks, clay figures, wooden toys, and more.
In 2020, a new group of creators will start “YANAGIYA REPRODUCT,” learning the techniques of Kinji and Miyako Tanaka and working on the production of Yanagiya toys.