Toa Sekiguchi
Born and raised in Shibukawa City in Gunma prefecture, Toa Sekiguchi lives and works with his family who also create Sosaku Kokeshi with him.
This award-winning artist received the Ministry of International Trade Industry Award in 1978, and have since won the Prime Minister’s Award, among many other respected accolades.
Sekiguchi employs beautifully painted Mizuki (Japanese Dogwood), for most of his kokeshi pieces. He uses the technic of deep carving to define the fine strands of long hair on many of his kokeshi pieces and showcases different types of motifs, such as fireworks to illustrate festival elements, and natural elements such as bamboo trees on the dolls’ bodies.
Sekiguchi shows off his artistic abilities as a painter with beautifully delicate creations in defining colours of black, grey, vermillion and gold.