NIPPON Kichi - 日本吉

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2007/2/1


鶉車 Uzura-guruma Quail Toy Cars

Jp En

Quail toy cars known as uzura-guruma are a charactersitic wooden toy made in Fukushima Prefecture.

A quail is a small bird that stands about 20cm tall, has a small head, a round body and a short tail. The black and white speckled pattern on its brown body is its characteristic feature.

A Korean who had immigrated to Iwashiro county in Fukushima Prefecture, founded a temple to commemorate a 100th anniversary. At that time, he developed the quail toy car from spare chunks of wood from a hand axe.

Quail toy cars are also made in Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, and the origin is quite similar; they are also said to have been made by a person from Korea.

Car toys such as these are popular in western Japan in places like Miyazaki, but are rarely seen in eastern Japan. Fukushima has so many kinds of toys as you can see from the fact that it has the quail toy car, although it is in the Tohoku region.

Dating to the Edo period, the quail toy car is a simple toy that has a great sense of fun.
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2007/1/18


三春駒 Miharugoma Miharu-goma Horse Toys

Jp En

Miharu-goma horse toys are part of a traditional wooden-toy craftmaking tradition in Miharu, Tamura district, Fukushima prefecture. Miharu-goma, along with Yawata-goma of Aomori prefecture and Kinoshita-goma of Miyagi prefecture, are known as the three best wooden horse toys of Japan.

Wooden horse toys were first made following a legend that a wooden horse had appeared to help the Heian shogun, Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, in a close battle with Emishi.

These toy horses come in two basic body colors, white or black, while the whip, saddle and accessories are painted in red, black, gold and purple.

These toy horses express the love the Miharu people have for horses. Miharu has traditionally been a horse-breeding area.

The wooden horses consist of two basic carved pieces that fit perfectly together using joints and notches. Several accessories are added to show the dynamism of the horse. When the white and black horse are placed together they are extremely cute. There is a Miharu wooden horse decorating the finishing post of the Fukushima racecourse.
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