I got introduced to a new concept of Japanese Kokeshi Dolls thanks to this commissioned project. I never knew the world of this small cute looking dolls will be so vast and wonderful with it's own pop-culture following spanning 150 years. When I started finding out a little about them while referencing, I got more and more intrigued and started reading about them. One such thing I found was - Kokeshi represent the wish for a healthy child, some believe that they bring children closer to the mountain spirits. Many people also agree that they were originally exchanged as tokens of friendship, with messages concealed within.
Kokeshi Dolls is not clearly in my bucketlist of that things to see when I visit Japan. Others being cherry blossom season and collecting tons of Japanese stationery.

Original photo credit : Heidy Curbelo Garcia