Inspiration for this doll was taken from “Tatsu-no-ko Tarō” a Japanese children’s story.
The story of Tarō the Dragon Boy starts with Tarō’s mother who is still pregnant with Tarō. Tarō’s mother, unable to bear being hungry any longer, breaks the village code and eats a char (fish). Upon doing so she is turned into a dragon and trapped at the bottom of a lake. The story then continues with the now adolescent Tarō going in search for his mother. The story ends with Tarō finding his blind mother, the dragon, and climbing upon her back to help guide her back home.
This particular scene remained in the artist’s head ever since she watched the animated children’s film of Tarō the Dragon Boy. She produced this doll after remembering this, and deciding that she wanted to do a children’s stories series of products.
This is actually the second time the artist has created a “Tarō the Dragon Boy” piece. After being told that her use of a stick of camphor wood made to resemble the dragon was original and interesting, she was asked to create another one.
This product uses a twig broken off the branch of a pine tree in the artist’s own garden. She cut off and dried the twig especially to resemble a dragon for this doll to ride. Without this “dragon twig,” the doll would never have seen completion—to put it in other words, this product is what some may call “a gift from nature.”
Keyaki [Zelkova] was chosen for the base of this piece to portray the sense of flying through the air. It does this through the dynamic patterns in the wood grain which really allows the beholder to feel like they are seeing Tarō and his mother flying swiftly through the sky. The Kodai-gire used for the costume is derived from the Edo period (1603-1868). The blue color was chosen to further accentuate Tarō’s boyish charm.
The brave Tarō riding on his mother’s back looks to be bringing something to his master.
Artist
Setsuko Sekine
Production year
2018
Era of Kodai-gire
Edo period
Usage of Kodai-gire
kimono
Base
Keyaki (Japanese zelkova, no coating
Size (Doll)
d 13cm w 15cm h 20cm
Size (Base)
d 20cm w 24cm h 3cm
Size (Box)
d 23.5cm w 17cm h 29cm
