Once upon a time... more than 200 years ago, a very famous sculptor, Matagoro, harvested Sugi (Japanese cedar) in the mountains of Nangai-cho in Akita Prefecture. He was very fond of working this aromatic and soft wood, with a very visible grain. Its most famous kokeshi celebrates Mount Nangai-cho highlighted by the Sugi. 
 It is the 7th generation of Matagoro who hand-carved this kokeshi using all the old codes.
 Sugi is a wood  which was neglected by kokeshi makers because it was too soft and too light to be worked  on the primitive wood lathes of the time.  
 It is a raw-looking kokeshi, hand-cut, and showing the traces of the tools that carved it. It is signed by the craftsman on the back and bears his hanko seal.
 It's a vintage kokeshi with traces of use.