Shadowhawk Kokeshi Dolls

The Atsugi Officers' Spouses Association runs a really cute Japanese shop here on base, called Ichiban Collectibles.  They sell all kinds of things - from small trinkets to pieces of furniture that they find at shrine sales.  My favorite purchase from Ichiban (so far) has been my flight suit Kokeshi Doll!  We don't have a lot of Navy or Aviation flair in our house, so I picked one up to put on our bookshelf.

How cute is this little guy?!

I love the detail, especially the wings and the American flag patch

Kokeshi Dolls are traditional, hand carved, wooden Japanese dolls.  The traditional dolls are handmade and the decorations on the doll are symbolic of the region they are from.  In recent history, more "creative" Kokeshi Dolls have emerged.  The creative dolls aren't specific to any certain region and there is more freedom in the designs and decorations that are placed on them.  I've seen several antique traditional dolls for sale at bazaars, but the ones we've purchased so far are creative Kokeshi.  Along with my flight suit Kokeshi, I also bought a set of three Santa Claus Kokeshi for Christmas!

A Japanese man makes the flight suit dolls specially for Ichiban and also makes custom squadron dolls.  Our squadron worked with him to have dolls made and I LOVE the way they turned out.  

Shadowhawk Kokeshi Doll

Back (you can kind of see the artist's stamp on the left side of the doll)

I think the doll is so cute - and what a great souvenir to keep as a reminder of our time here at NAF Atsugi!