A Kokeshi Doll

Kokeshi are folk dolls made of wood. This doll — a creative style kokeshi — I bought on Tuesday 14 April 2015 at the showroom of the association of modern kokeshi artists when I made a 45-minute tour of Hakone-Yumoto (箱根湯本) in the Hakone region. The title plate displays the kanji (Japan's Chinese characters) 郷愁 (kyōshū), which means "hometown melancholy". The artist is Sekiguchi Tōa 関口東亜, an award-winning artist.

This was my second visit to Hakone after my first and longer trip there in November 1975.