The Development of Ball-jointed Dolls in Japan

Tanaka Keiko

doi:10.14988/pa.2017.0000011352

This paper will discuss the unique development of ball-jointed dolls in Japan after the reception of Hans Bellmer's doll creations, by examining the works of Simon Yotusya and other artists that followed.The story of Japanese ball-jointed dolls began in the 1960s with the encounter of photographic images of dolls by Hans Bellmer introduced by surrealist artists like Tatsuhiko Shibusawa and Shuzo Takiguchi. Simon Yotsuya's dolls, born out of the discovery that dolls possess `a particular existence as a doll', changed the concept of creative dolls, which had up to then been made adorable with a lyric touch. In the 1970s, the active creativity of artists like Yotsuya Simon and Nori Doi prompted the realization that ball-jointed dolls could not be categorized merely as craftwork, consequently leading to the unique development of such dolls within a new context. The 1980s saw a great influence of aesthetic and fantastic dolls and their photographic presentations by Katan Amano and Ryo Yoshida on the way dolls were made thereafter, and which saw a great number of followers of their works. Moreover, through the increase in the number of publications on ball-jointed dolls and the establishment of doll-making classes, the interest of ball-jointed dolls spread across Japan within a short period, producing numerous doll creators in its wake. More recently, after the appearance of Koi Tsuki Hime, who has been influenced by European Bisque Dolls, there has been a tendency to focus on dolls for their value as playthings and for their fashion quality, revealing the mutual relationship between ball-jointed dolls and subcultures, as well as new possibilities.

The Development of Ball-jointed Dolls in Japan

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