"The sea is vast, so big..." The skills and wisdom (= folk tools) nurtured through the long relationship between the sea and people, for obtaining its bounty, and the hopes (= toys) that people have held for a bountiful catch towards the sea.Musashino Art University Museum & Library, Folklore Materials RoomExcavated from the approximately 90,000 folk artifacts held by the institution. Separate exhibition rooms are provided for folk tools and toys, and a series of articles, with commentary by Professor Koji Kato of the university, explores the deep connection between people and the sea that has continued from ancient times to the present.Click here for project details.). For the eighth installment, we will introduce sea-themed toys with the theme of "whale toys."

A sense of reverence for whales

The history of the Japanese people and whales is long, and they have been deeply intertwined not only with a sense of reverence for the vast natural world of the sea, but also with spirituality. In the past, whales were often harvested by chance, such as when they ran aground on the shore. In the Tohoku region, there are monuments and other structures that express gratitude for the blessings of whales, and these convey a part of the belief in Ebisu, the god of the sea who brings blessings. After the Edo period, when traditional whaling, which involved entangling whales with nets and catching them with fleets of ships, was established in places like Taiji on the Kii Peninsula, whales became something that people went out to sea to hunt. This involved actively killing the whales when hunting them, and whale memorial services came into being to pray for the souls of the killed whales to find peace.

The appearance of a whale

The rounded shape of a whale swimming gracefully across the ocean is associated with the grandeur of the sea itself, and from a respect for nature that transcends human understanding, whales became objects of prayer for bountiful catches and good health. The fact that the motif of a whale spouting water is found on the elaborate floats (dashi) paraded in urban festivals is likely because this reverence for nature was intertwined with prayers for peace and good health. This motif of the whale as a symbol of prayer remains strongly present in the designs of local folk toys.

The splendor of the whaling ship

Whales were such a valuable resource that it was said, "One whale can enrich seven villages." However, catching whales was a life-threatening job. Many ships with different roles worked together, and local residents who didn't work on the boats also engaged in various land-based tasks related to whales. As a result, folk toys depicting whale boats have become deeply cherished as symbols of regional pride, community unity, and the courage of brave fishermen. Whales came to be more than just a resource; they became symbols of the sea, reflecting the Japanese spirit and aesthetics, and becoming objects to which the prayers of families and communities were entrusted.

International resource management and cultural resource development

Whales were hunted competitively by developed countries in the modern era due to the demand for oil from the Industrial Revolution and the need for fertilizer from the expansion of agriculture. In 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling at its annual meeting, deciding to halt commercial whaling targeting specific species of large cetaceans. In response, Japan proposed a limited lifting of the moratorium while continuing scientific research in the form of research whaling. In 2019, Japan withdrew from the IWC and resumed commercial whaling in Japanese territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, with restrictions on the number of whales that could be caught based on scientific research, and this continues to the present day.

During the era of research whaling, whales were utilized more for tourism than as an industry in whaling base regions. Local culture and history surrounding whales attracted attention, and whale-themed folk toys became widely popular as souvenirs and lucky charms.

Toy Gallery

Magnificent whale ship

In Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, various types of whaling boats are produced as local toys, based on picture scrolls depicting scenes from the era of traditional whaling. Among these, there are barrel boats that carry floats, double boats that carry captured whales, net boats that carry nets, and storage boats that carry tools, but the most famous is the sekobune, a boat used by whalers to jump onto the whale and harpoon it in the vital spot. The sekobune is decorated with a phoenix and leads the fleet.

Image of a big catch

Another local toy from Kumano, also based on whaling ships, is called a "big catch boat" or "whale boat." This one has wheels, reminiscent of a ship sailing the sea. The entire toy is decorated with colorful ornaments and vibrant patterns, and its striking sense of color is similar to the design of a big catch flag. The whale boat itself symbolizes a prayer for a bountiful catch and represents an image of abundance.

A stylized whale

At Asuka Shrine in Taiji, a town that once prospered from traditional whaling, there is a ritual called the O-yumi Shinji, a festival used to predict the year's harvest and catch. In this ritual, children compete to grab a wooden whale-shaped object called a "semi." It is a traditional event to give thanks for the blessings of whales and to pray for a bountiful catch. A local toy, a miniature version of this "semi" with wheels attached, is known as the whale cart. Its boldly stylized form expresses affection for whales.

Traditional whaling in Taiji came to an end in 1878, a year of poor catches, when a whale crew attempted to capture a right whale with its calf—a species they were forbidden to hunt—and perished in an accident known as the "Seminagare" (back-facing drift), resulting in the deaths of over 100 fishermen. Although the introduction of modern whaling revived the industry, the whaling wagons still carry the weight of this tragic history.

The beautiful curves of a whale

Whales are among the most captivating animals due to their streamlined, curvilinear forms. The whale carts from Kochi Prefecture are wonderful folk toys that beautifully accentuate these curves through their stylized design. The shape of the mouth reveals that it is a right whale. It is said that fishermen made them for their children in their spare time, but the realistic details throughout the carts are based on actual observations of whales. The flower-like coloring of the carts helps to further accentuate the black color of the whale.

Whale float

The papier-mâché whale spouting water is modeled after the traditional floats (dashi) offered at the Nagasaki Kunchi festival (Suwa Shrine) held in Nagasaki City. The whale float is popular for its performance of actually spouting water. There is also a whale boat float, which conveys the grandeur of ancient whaling. While the floats recreate the spouting water using a dragon-shaped water pump (an old-fashioned fire pump), the folk toy uses thin bamboo sticks to represent the spouting water, which moves via a mechanism linked to the axle when the cart is driven.

Planning, supervision, and writing

Koji Kato
Professor at Musashino Art University, specializing in folklore (research on folk implements). Holds a PhD in Literature. Previously served as a curator at the Wakayama Prefectural Kii Fudoki-no-Oka Museum and a professor at Tohoku Gakuin University (concurrently serving as a curator at the university museum), before assuming his current position in 2019. His major publications include "Folklore: Facing and Expressing the Past" (Musashino Art Publishing Bureau/2022) and "Folklore: Public Studies: Learning and Practicing for Oneself" (Musashino Art Publishing Bureau/2025).