namanari hannya bijin ningyō

For a very long time I wanted to make bijin ningyō. It was just a loose idea, I didn’t have any details or particular story for her.

Then when my kid was born I found myself with lots of time on my hands while being nap trapped  so I started developing the idea of making a namanari hannya doll - figuring out how to make the face, what to use for the hair, how to construct the body, etc.

I started actually making her sometime around late summer, it took a while since I only had an hour or two to work on her in the evenings.

She began as a series of sketches, where I worked out her proportions, expression, and overall presence. At first I wanted to make a Lady Rokujō doll but when I though about sewing a junihitoe costume for 40cm doll I gave up on that idea... I decided to make her an edo beauty, with ohaguro, sasabeni on her lips, nihongami and fancy kimono. From there, I moved into 3D modeling, refining the sculpt digitally before 3D printing the head, arms and feet.

Once printed, the surface was cleaned and finished, and I used the 3D hair model as a guide to build her nihongami. Viscose roving was carefully glued in place to create a traditional nihongami, following the structure and volume of the original sculpt.

Her body is built on a simple wireframe armature, which was then covered in paper mâché to form the base shape.

For her clothing, she wears a juban and haneri made from vintage shibori fabric scraps. Over this, she is dressed in two kimono: black on the bottom and burgundy on top, both fully lined in bright red and with padded hem. Her obi is made from vintage brocade and tied in ginza musubi.

Now I want to make another one, maybe a rokurokubi? Or a kitsune? Or perhaps Lady Rokujō in junihitoe but I'm still slightly afraid of that, haha.

I’m addicted to time consuming hobbies...