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155year time travel of the Hina dolls withthe for beautiful seasons of Japan.
The Tougyoku company
WELCOME TO TOUGYOKU
A Message
 | A message from Takashi Totsuka, TOUGYOKU Company President A detailed introduction to the TOUGYOKU shops and locations. Access maps may be printed from your computer. An introduction to TOUGYOKU’s Doll Academy, museum, pathways, and other related facilities is available as well. A look at the approximate 155-year history of the TOUGYOKU Company. See the secrets behind TOUGYOKU’s excellence. |
Tougyoku Doll Company President, Takashi Totsuka,
Founded in 1852, the Tougyoku corporation has been striving to maintain and improve upon the art of traditional doll making inherited from its founder, Ryuuken Totsuka.
In modern perspective, Japan’s face is that of a rapidly developing economic power.
However, the heart and soul of Japan has a strong voice as well.
Specifically, within the world of manufactured arts and crafts, hand-made dolls are attracting a lot of attention with the warmth they bring to everyday living.
Since times of antiquity, there has existed a belief that Japanese dolls function as a wish for the happiness of Children at the time of their birth. Now, at the hands of many skilled craftsmen, they’ve become an art symbolic of Japan. These handmade dolls act as kind guardian spirits, who watch over us and protect us as we journey through life. They comfort us in times of sadness, give us courage in times of loneliness, and share our joy in times of happiness. In short, these dolls are like extensions of ourselves. Given as international gifts, they promote peace and harmony through the expression of traditional Japanese culture. A doll given as a blessing for the happiness and prosperity of a child will embody the sincerity of the giver’s wish, and help the child to grow up happy and healthy. We at Tougyoku hope that people, young and old, can rediscover the beauty of the human through the joy of traditional handmade dolls.
a guide to TOUGYOKU
The Tougyoku establishment is located in front of the Iwatsuki station, on the Tobu-Noda train line, and the Tougyoku head office is located within the same area. Location/ 3−2, Hon-cho, Iwatsuki Ward, Saitama City 〒339−0057 Contact/ TEL.048−756−1111 FAX.048−757−3113 toll-free 0120−393501
TOUGYOKU’S 155-YEAR HISTORY (How TOUGYOKU’S history of excellence began)
  | The history of TOUGYOKU workshop parallels that of the town of Iwatsuki. Since the Edo period, the town of Iwatsuki has flourished as a post town/ castle town, and has long been blessed with the paulownia wood and high quality water, ideal for dollmaking. At present, Iwatsuki takes great pride in its status as Japan’s largest producer of traditional dolls. TOUGYOKU’s original founder, Ryuuken Totsuka, was a doctor at the palace of the lord of Iwatsuki, Kaei Nenkan, Totsuka’s hobby was dollmaking, and he often made fine dolls, in addition to his work as a doctor. When he gave one of his dolls to the lord of Iwatsuki as a gift, he was highly praised, and granted the moniker, “TOUGYOKU” meaning King of the East. Thus, the distinguished history of the TOUGYOKU name has been passed down through six generations, and remains active to this day.  |
Iwatsuki,the doll town
| Iwatsuki has flourished as a post town on the Nikko-onari highway since the time of Iwatsuki castle’s construction by Sir Doukan Oota. Iwatsuki is well known for having the best raw materials relative to doll making. This area was originally famous for predicting the finest paulownia wood powder used in doll making, in addition to paulownia wood, the abundance of high quality water found on Iwatsuki is essential in mixing white plaster of Paris as well as mixing and developing other colors for use in making dolls. Thus, doll making has been a flourishing practice in Iwatsuki since the Edo period. At present, the Tougyoku Company ranks highest of about 300 doll workshops and 100 wholesale and retail stores, making it both in name and reality, one of the finest producers of traditional dolls in Japan. |  |
The origin of the "girl's festival"
The story goes far back to one thousand years ago, to the early days of the “Heian era”. In those days, ”HINA ASOBI”, a sort of house keeping game with paper dolls, was widely prevalent among women and girls of the nobility.Noblemen, on the other hand, held a ceremony in March to pray to God for peace and security of their children by floating the paper dolls down the stream or in the garden pond to drive.
It is believed that these two events were put together as the origin of the girl’s festival.
In the middle of the “Edo period”, the dolls came to be dressed beautifully and gorgeously as seen today. The event came into fashion in big cities like Edo(Tokyo’s former name) first and gradually infiltrated throughout the country in the “Meiji era”,
Every family has come display the “DAIRI BINA” whenever a baby come into the world, to wish her happiness and healthy growth.
Although shapes of dolls and manners of display were changed over time. The girl’s festival has been carried on for over one thousand years.
