Nara Ittobori Exhibition

Nara ittobori is a way of carving wooden figures that belongs to Nara, where it is also called Nara ningyo, the Nara doll. The cuts of the chisel are left showing rather than smoothed away, and the figure is then painted in strong colours. The work has long been made for festivals and for the Noh theatre, and the craft is counted at a thousand years old.

This exhibition brings it to Tokyo, to the Hibiya Library & Museum in Chiyoda. It is held with the craft museum of the city of Nara, and marks fifteen years since the library opened.

About forty things are shown. Alongside the finished figures are the tools the carvers work with, which are rarely put on show, and there is a corner where wood can be picked up and handled.

One pairing sets out what has happened to the craft lately. Two sets of the twelve animals of the zodiac stand together: one carved in the older manner, the other replacing the animals with those of Africa. The same subject is treated by two carvers who take it in opposite directions.

A lecture is given on the day after the opening, by a researcher from the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, on the work of a carver of the nineteenth century who is counted the master of the form. The lecture is given in Japanese.