The Iwatsuki Ningyo Museum, Saitama City
(The Iwatsuki Doll Museum)

Iwatsuki is located in Saitama Prefecture, the largest producer of Japanese dolls in Japan, and is known as the very town of dolls. Many doll makers still live here, and the Iwatsuki Ningyo Museum, which opened in 2020, is a facility that will preserve the culture and history of the Japanese doll for future generations.

Japan has a unique culture of dolls, such as the "Hina Dolls" displayed at the "Hina Festival" (an annual event held on March 3 to pray for the healthy growth of girls) that has continued since the Edo period (1603-1868).

There are two main exhibits in the permanent collection. One is a display of the process of making Japanese dolls with tools and a video showing the production process (English narration is also available). The second is an exhibition of the museum's own collection of dolls, mainly from the collection of Nishizawa Tekiho, a Japanese painter active between 1889 and 1965. A wide variety of Japanese dolls can be viewed at all times, including dolls for the Hina Festival and other handmade dolls.

Currently, the museum has a collection of over 5,000 dolls of high quality and wide range of genres, and holds special exhibitions regularly.