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Kokeshi: A Conversation with a Master Artisan
Updated: 1 day ago
Hideyuki Satō is a third-generation kokeshi artisan from Kokeshi Kijidokoro Satō, a studio in Japan founded in 1926. This November, he brings his craft to the Japanese Friendship Garden for a hands-on workshop, where guests will hear the history behind these traditional wooden dolls, watch a live demonstration, and paint their own kokeshi to take home. Ahead of his visit, he spoke with us about his lineage, his craft, and a very Japanese way of falling for a wooden doll.
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What is a kokeshi, and where does it come from?
Kokeshi originally began in the Edo period as dolls made for little girls to play with. Today they’re still popular with collectors around the world, and as a Japanese souvenir.
Which kokeshi tradition do you work in, and how did you come to it?
I’ve inherited one of the eleven traditional kokeshi lineages, the Yajirō lineage. I’ve been making kokeshi for 24 years now. My teacher was my father, Satō Seikō. I’m the third generation, my grandfather was the first, my father the second, and I’m the third.
What does it take to become a master kokeshi artisan?
There isn’t really a certification for it. What it comes down to is becoming independent as a kokeshi maker, reaching the point where you can truly stand on your own. Generally, they say you need ten years of training before you can make a living at it.
Is the craft growing or shrinking in Japan today?
It’s definitely shrinking, and not only kokeshi. All of Japan’s traditional crafts are. In modern society, making things by hand with traditional methods often doesn’t fit with the economics. So yes, it’s certainly getting smaller. Kokeshi too. But there are efforts all over the country to try to grow it again. It’ll be a while before we see the results of those.
How can someone tell one artist’s kokeshi from another’s, and how would you describe your own?
Honestly, for someone who doesn’t know kokeshi well, telling my work apart just by looking is very difficult, really, almost impossible. The surest way is to look at the base, where my signature is written.
But let me tell you how we tend to look at kokeshi in Japan, because it’s a bit like meeting people. When you meet someone and become friends, there usually isn’t a particular reason.
It’s a matter of feeling, of your temperaments happening to match. The same kind of meeting happens between a person and a kokeshi. When you’re looking at many of them lined up, you might find yourself drawn to one, “this one feels like it’s looking at me.” If you meet a kokeshi like that, you can look at the signature on its base and remember it. Over time, you come to understand what kind of kokeshi you love. It’s a very Japanese way of enjoying them, but it might be a fun one.
As for my own work, what people often say about the kokeshi my father, my family, and I make is that they’re very gentle. What I mean is that even someone seeing kokeshi for the first time finds ours easy to like, easy to warm to.
How is a kokeshi made, from raw wood to finished doll?
Roughly speaking, it starts with getting the raw wood. A forestry supplier brings the timber, and we begin by drying it, that takes about one to two years. Then we cut the dried wood, shape it on the lathe, paint the pattern, and finish it.
The wood we use most is mizuki, in English I believe it’s called dogwood. Because we paint a face on the kokeshi, we want wood with a pale, light grain, so mizuki is preferred.
What should visitors to the Phoenix workshop expect, and what will they take home?
This is an important point. For a first-timer, painting a kokeshi is probably not easy, I think it’s quite hard. Everyone will practice a lot, and honestly, you probably won’t be able to paint exactly the kokeshi you picture. It’s that difficult.
But if you simply want a beautiful kokeshi, you can just buy one of mine. So that’s not really the point. The kokeshi you paint yourself is one of a kind, the only one in the world. Getting to meet a kokeshi like that is a very precious thing, I think. In the moment, you might feel it didn’t go well. But as time passes, I think that kokeshi becomes a wonderful memory, something irreplaceable to you. That, to me, is the meaning of joining this workshop.
What does it mean to you to share kokeshi with people outside Japan?
Honestly, I haven’t really thought that deeply about it. I’m simply looking forward to meeting everyone and making kokeshi together, for me it’s really just that. But if kokeshi can spread to people outside Japan, then maybe the chance that it continues into the future in Japan, too, widens a little. I do hope for that, a little.
Is there anything you’d like our visitors to know before they come?
Kokeshi is very well known in Japan, but of course that’s not the case in America, I think many people will be encountering it for the first time. So I’d be happy if everyone could just enjoy it without thinking too hard about it. I’ll do my best to make sure you end up with a kokeshi you’re satisfied with.
Paint Your Own Kokeshi at the Garden with Satō Hideyuki
Join master artisan Satō Hideyuki for a hands-on workshop at the Garden. Hear the history and artistry behind traditional kokeshi, watch a live demonstration, then paint your own pre-made kokeshi doll with Japanese brushes and traditional pigments, a one-of-a-kind keepsake to take home.
Saturday, November 14, 2026 Morning session: 9:30–11:30 AM · Afternoon session: 1:30–3:30 PM Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix
$120 general · Members save 10% Includes all materials and Garden admission Limited to 12 participants per session · Check in 15 minutes early
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