The history of Iwatsuki｜- Hina dolls and Gogatsu dolls - of TOGYOKU in Iwatsuki, Saitama

　You can fully enjoy our town with dolls, history, and nature.
　We are looking forward to seeing you here.

　Iwatsuki is a castle town since Iwatsuki castle have been built for sir Doukan Oota. During the Edo period, it was flourished as a post town on the Nikko-onari highway.
　Besides, Iwatsuki is well known as the largest producer of dolls in Japan.
　This area is originally famous for producing high quality paulownia tree to make dolls. In addition, Iwatsuki has plenty of water suited for dissolving paulownia wood powder and making beautiful colors. Thus, doll making has been flourishing in Iwatsuki since the Edo period.
　Nowadays, havening Togyoku at the head of the list, there are about 150 doll workshops and 30 retail stores in Iwatsuki. Both in name and reality, Iwatsuki is the first place in output of dolls in Japan.

　Approximately 560 years ago in the middle of the Muromachi period (1457), Sir Doukan Oota began to build Iwatsuki Castle (Shiratsuru Castle) on what is presently the town of Iwatsuki. Since that time, Iwatsuki has prospered as its kingdom.
　Presently, the site of Iwatsuki's Castle ruins is called "Castle Site Park (Joushi Kouen)", and has come to be known as a place of recreation and relaxation for Iwatsuki's citizens. Within the park are two statues, representing dolls of the Emperor and Empress. These doll statues have since become revered symbols of the town of Iwatsuki.

　As sung in the folk songs of Japan, the prevate school of "Senkyoukan" estableshed by the confucian scholar Nanka Kodama, can be found in Iwatsuki. Also noteworthy is the "Toki no Kane (Time Bell)" that was built by the feudal lord Sir Masaharu Abe in the year 1671. His wish was to build a great bell for the townspeople of Iwatsuki, so they might tell the time of day by its ringing. To summarize and exhibit these historical monuments, as well as the history of Iwatsuki Castle, there is a history walk available for residents and visitors to Iwatsuki.

　There are unique and fun seasonal events in Iwatsuki throughout the year.
　Those events include "Hina Matsuri", "Nagashibina" and “Sakura Matsuri” in spring, "Iwatsuki Matsuri" in summer, “Choyo-no-Sekku” and “Koshiki Kodomo Dohyo Iri（the Sumo event for kids hawing a history of over 470 years）” in autumn, and “Dolls memorial service” on November 3 in winter.

　In the town of Iwatsuki, Hina dolls go on sale from January to February, and Gogatsu dolls are offer for sale from March to April. During these seasons, many people visit Iwatsuki to buy the seasonal dolls.