“Crybaby (Nakimushi)”
Why was that tattered doll
so precious to me back then?
Why can I no longer cry?
Once, there were crying children in every alley
Bronze Sculptures
Showa no Kodomotachi, cast in bronze.
These are bronze sculptures based on the Showa no Kodomotachi (Children of the Showa Era) dolls. They are available life-size or at one-quarter scale, and each is made to order.
Bronze Sculptures
Showa no Kodomotachi Bronze Sculptures
- Material
- Bronze
- Size
- Life-size or one-quarter scale
- How to order
- Made to order (life-size pieces are available to corporate clients only). Please contact us.
Showa no Kodomotachi in Our Towns
These bronze sculptures are based on the Showa no Kodomotachi dolls. Each is shown here with a photo of the doll it was based on and the words that accompany the work.
“The Quarrel (Kenka)”
Crying or laughing,
for now you are all still children
Take your time, and grow into someone great, just as you are
“Who Goes Farthest? (Tobashikko)”
Innocent and carefree—
please grow up true to yourself
Please stay healthy
That is all your mother asks
“Peeking Between the Legs (Matanozoki)”
When your heart feels stuck,
try looking at the world upside down
Even the scenery you know so well—
look, it changes
“Little Rascal (Wanpaku)”
Far off, in the boy’s eyes,
a dream too big to hold…
His heart soars into the sky
The 21st Century Project
The Unadorned Heart, Beyond the Centuries
The 21st century. The great waves of change sweeping over us are now pressing humanity toward a profound shift in its values.
The environment, population, food, energy…
The problems of our age are too many to count.
Now the door to a new era opens, as the bills run up by the 20th century’s pursuit of prosperity are passed on to the next generation.
What can each of us do as individuals?
What universal human values should be passed down through time to those who come after us?
We continue to ask these questions.
In this country, free from hunger and assured of safety, we have grown up taking peace for granted, nurtured by abundant information and a mature culture.
And precisely because of that—though we came to it only in hindsight—we have realized that there is a human heart we can understand only in our own time, and an image of humanity that our time, above all, longs for.
In the centuries to come, however values may change, as long as human beings remain human, the cycle will go on: we pass through childhood, grow into adults, grow old, hand life on to the next generation, and depart this world.
Into these sculptures we have poured our wish to pass on, for generations to come, the universal values shared in every human heart—through the figures of children just as they are, and of people open-hearted and free.
Living as we do at a great turning point in history, we have named this The 21st Century Project.
With every wish, hope and prayer that our descendants may carry life forward, healthy and strong, for all time to come, and that time on this earth may flow richly, we hereby propose the installation of Showa no Kodomotachi sculptures.
Text: Ishii Michiko
Contact
We would love
to hear from you.
Hosting an exhibition, a display lease for your facility, licensing the works, or stocking our photo books and postcards—one form covers every inquiry.