Gangu Bai Full Movie

[Vanya Lamunyon]

In2012, they opened Atelier Gangu, a small shop selling and introducing folkcraft toys handmade by artisans from all over Japan. I have visited them to learn more about these toys, and I did not expect that they would have such a deeper, spiritual meaning.

Mrs. Iijima: Also, gangu are painted with gofun, a traditional white pigment made from seashells.So maybe this was some sort of magical custom. In older times, children would die from all kinds of illnesses. The folkcraft toys may have been used to keep diseases away from children and allow them to grow up safely.

One day, someone offered me a manekineko [lucky cat], and I put it at our office entrance. After that, our number of jobs suddenly increased, so much so that we could move to a new office [laughs]! Later, I put the lucky cat on the veranda, facing the window. And every evening, we would see a black cat entering the garden, who came to meet our manekineko and just sit there looking at it [laughs]. We were all very intrigued, and I got a spiritual specialist to look at the manekineko. They advised me to make another one, a black one with its left paw raised and put it near the office phone.

At first, I had black cats made so I could give them to my friends who wanted one because of this story. Then, the Great East Japan Earthquake happened. I think after the incident, everybody in Japan wondered what they could do. I realized that people making such objects in Tohoku [the northeast area of Japan] might quit. Luckily, one of my friends was from Fukushima City. I went to meet him there a month after the disaster. The situation was terrible. But my friend introduced me to Mr. Hashimoto, the most famous artisan making Miharu hariko dolls [papier-mch dolls]. His family has been making them since the Edo period. There, I met a 93-year-old woman who was working and sticking washi paper. She told me she survived the earthquake by clinging to the cherry tree planted to celebrate when she got married. She also told me she had been making dolls for 80 years. It was that critical encounter that started everything. I wanted to do something for these artisans.

I also had another friend who was from Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture. He took me to see Mrs. Nihashi, who was making Hamamatsu papier-mch dolls. The lady was about 80 years old. Usually, such artisans continue their business from father to son. Still, for this workshop, the women are in charge, which is very rare. She was stressed with having too many orders, but she promised to produce some items for me when she would have time.

Mr. Usuda: We also have our way to display them, especially regarding colors. Some time ago, someone from Time Out visited the shop to introduce it on their website. At first, they thought we were displaying modern things because they looked so pop and colorful.

Mr. Usuda: Objects really have the power to create an atmosphere, and children have a good sense of feeling where the objects should be. They put things instinctively. I think that keeping this sense is important.

Mrs. Iijima: Speaking of which, gangu are cute and humorful, but some are also a little bit scary. I think this is also very important. Children are very sensitive to it. Some time ago, we did a job for which we had to display traditional kites. There was a room full of them. My three-year-old daughter was so scared, she cried and refused to enter. Nowadays, Japanese children evolve in a clean, reassuring environment. Still, I believe that it can be useful for them to have the experience to feel what a scary place is like. Places like deep in the forest, or shrines with no one inside, places you feel you should not enter. Gangu can also play this role.

What you are saying reminds me of an interview I recently did with a Namahage from Tohoku. He told me the same. He believes that children nowadays should be granted access to a good scare.

Mrs. Iijima: Gangu are interesting, but the artisans who make them are even more. They all have a strong character, and the story of their lives is directly linked to how they express themselves in their creations.

If this article got you interested in gangu and you would like to support Japanese folkcraft toy artisans, Atelier Gangu has an online shop and they can ship internationally if you contact them first by email.

Born in France, I've been living in Japan since 2011. I'm curious about everything, and living in Japan has allowed me to expand my vision of the world through a broad range of new activities, experiences, and encounters. As a writer, what I love most is listening to people's personal stories and share them with our readers.

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