sagi musume doll (giant jeans parlor!)

Saturday was Girls' Day in Japan and I celebrated by making my most elaborate doll to date. This is the Sagi Musume (Heron Maiden) doll, modeled after the main character of a classic Japanese dance about a heron that transforms into a woman and falls in love with a man who does not return her love. It has been most famously performed by the great onnagata (female impersonator) Kabuki actor, Tamasaburo Bando.

This is without a doubt my favorite doll so far. I love the flowers in her hair and the fabric-like softness of her kimono. I also like the white hat, which somehow reminds me of both a wedding veil and a plastic shopping bag. Everything about her seems soft and draping and a little sad.

I like her even more after watching a video of Tamasaburo Bando performing Sagi Musume while wearing the costume this doll is based on. Her long sleeves are like wings, I see now, and the flashes of red at her sleeves and the hem of her kimono are like the bright underfeathers birds flash when shaking off rain or snow. The video is ten minutes long, but worth it, especially for the latter half, when he (she?) closes the umbrella and does a series of eerie, bird-like dances.