Shukō Ningyo – or ‘Shukō Dolls’ – refer to very highly prized costume dolls, created by individual aficionados, who would commission a doll maker to make them. This painstaking work was outsourced from the mid-Edo Period onward by individuals who were particularly well-versed in certain hobbies, known as ‘Tsujin.’
The Bunraku (Japanese puppet theater) dolls that proliferate in the Kyoto and Osaka region stand out for their theatrical and exaggerated expressions. Conversely, in Edo (now Tokyo), although the puppets themselves were created realistically, the artists liked to express themselves freely; unhindered by any historical references.