OGURA o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-10-10 published
Dollmaker, renaissance artist
Known for brilliant Japanese Mataro dolls
Accomplished calligrapher, kimono designer
By Tim LAI,
Staff
Reporter
The death of a renowned self-taught dollmaker has created a large
hole in Toronto's Japanese artistic community.
Miyoko OGURA was well known in the Japanese community for her
artistic brilliance in the creation of Mataro dolls -- figures
based on the daily life and folk tales of the Heian dynasty (784-1191),
a period noted for its peace and cultural blossoming. She died
September 29 at the age of 74.
Born in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima,
OGURA was the only
certified Mataro teacher in Toronto. Instructors must send in
dolls for examination in order to be licensed by the Mataro Doll
Craft Academy in Tokyo.
Other teachers outside Japan operate in New York, San Francisco,
San Diego, Paris and Hong Kong.
Mataro dolls are a type of Kimekomi Ningyou -- wooden dolls dressed
in kimonos and other Japanese garb.
They preserve the tradition of hand-carved wooden dolls developed
on the riverbanks of Kyoto more than 250 years ago.
The founder of the academy, Mataro
KANABAYASHI, discovered a
new way to manufacture these types of dolls by mixing Paulownia
sawdust with glue.
OGURA was a special teacher who was able to see all the careful
details on a doll, according to a long-time student.
"There's always a point on a doll that's very difficult and that's
where she would come in and help you," said Carol
DOI, 62, a
17-year student of
OGURA. "It takes you back into the past of
Japan."
Even with her years of experience,
DOI said she wouldn't be able
to teach future students the way
OGURA did.
Hiroko PIGGOTT, 51, a newer student, said
OGURA was patient and
affectionate, but challenging.
PIGGOTT joined her classes a year ago, after she saw the Mataro
dolls and wanted to buy some for her children.
OGURA told
PIGGOTT it would be more meaningful if she took the
time to learn and make the dolls herself.
Dolls, which must be bought in kits from Japan that cost up to
$1,000, can take nearly 50 hours to complete.
"She did meticulous work,"
PIGGOTT said.
OGURA, who immigrated to Toronto in 1959, had been teaching the
Mataro art form for more than 30 years.
For the past 23 years, she'd been living alone -- she had no
children -- following the death of her husband, Hisao
OGURA,
but her love for people brought her to many community events.
She was a helpful volunteer at the Seicho-No-Le Church, especially
when it came to preparing food.
Often during classes and events at the church,
OGURA would tantalize
the taste buds of others with her sweet Japanese delicacies.
Red bean cakes were the favourite of 80-year-old Kay
YAMAMOTO,
a long-time friend and fellow practitioner at the church.
YAMAMOTO said her friend was a renaissance woman when it came
to revealing Japanese art.
In addition to creating Mataro dolls,
OGURA practised Odori --
traditional Japanese dancing -- was an accomplished calligrapher
and designed elegant kimonos from scratch.
"She's one of these people that doesn't walk up stairs, she runs,"
said DOI.
In her 70s,
OGURA still went to her Tai-Chi classes nearly every
morning.
OGURA had hundreds of dolls in her home, many of them stored
in boxes, and
DOI doesn't know what will happen to the collection.
In 2004, OGURA donated sets of court and Samurai dolls to the
Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care in Scarborough.
She also provided a set to the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre
after a big showing of her dolls at the centre in September.
"Her displays were always special because they were shows you
don't see much," said Jim
URA, cultural programs co-ordinator
for the cultural centre.
"She wasn't there to become famous. She just enjoyed the fact
that people came and looked," added
DOI.
OGURA was set to travel back to Japan at the end of the month
to help celebrate her mother's 100th birthday.
A memorial service will be held today at the Seicho-No-Le Church
at 622 Victoria Park Ave. at 3 p.m.
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