Yuki Atae is a Japanese doll maker famous for his hauntingly gorgeous dolls and figures. Born in 1937 in Kanagawa Prefecture Atae has revitalised the art of doll making in Japan.

Traditionally Japanese dolls are given as gifts, and are also used to celebrate important events in a childs life, such as Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival or Childrens Day) which is a public holiday on March 3rd, and Boys Day on April 5th, otherwise known as Tango no Sokko or Childrens Day. During Hina Matsuri, a diarama of dolls representing the royal court is set up in the best room of the house. Depending on the status and wealth of the family, these diaramas can be quite splendid affairs.

Yuki Atae’s figures are quite a departure from this. His is a more whimsical, nostalgic vision. To quote from a Japan Times article this morning:

Many of his dolls are modeled on Japanese children from the early Showa Era, which started in 1926, and the preceding 14-year Taisho Era, when Atae says, people were materially poor but spiritually rich.

The dolls, mostly dressed in traditional kimono, are exhibited in various scenes, including a girl napping by a “kotatsu” heater table, boys waiting for “mochi” rice cakes to be cooked on a brazier and a girl carrying a sleeping baby on her back.

“In the past, many kids wore dirty clothes and were snotty-nosed, but they had pure and shining eyes full of hope,” he said, adding that he wants to preserve in the shape of his dolls something that has been lost with time.

His dolls have been exhibited overseas in the Louvre in Paris, as well as in New York and used in films and television programs. There is an exhibition of Yuki Atae’s work currently touring Japan until January 2008.

Read more about the history of Japanese Dolls at wikipedia or The Japan Times article “Doll maker revives bygone, simpler, spiritually rich Japan.” There is a wikipedia page about Yuki Atae, but it is in Japanese.