Japanese dolls stand among the world’s best in craftsmanship and elegance. But how much do you know about the technique of actually making one? Luckily, there’s an app which simulates the experience of creating your own doll called Sodatete Nihon Ningyo (Raise a Japanese Doll)!

That might sound intimidating, but the developers have presented it with a simple interface much like Tamagotchi or Digimon so that anyone can join the traditional fun. Here’s a quick run down of how it works.

In the art of building an exquisite Japanese doll we first start out with a kokeshi doll. These are simple figures made with a wooden rod for the body and ball for the head. These dolls can still be found in shops all over Japan.

But to make a higher quality Japanese doll this is just the first step. In the case of Sodatete Nihon Ningyo, it appears your kokeshi was found doused in the blood of innocents and thus cursed by the power of nightmares. But that should be no problem for an expert doll-maker like you!

So you place the doll in your studio, which gets a little corrupted by the visceral evil pouring out of your project, and you get to work.

Now the art of Japanese doll-making involves several steps. First you must light a candle and let its spiritual energy build. When you get enough power you can shoot it into the beating heart of bloody supernatural energy that exists within all dolls.

You also have to spend quality time with the doll to make sure it grows up healthy and well-adjusted. This mainly involves giving it rub-downs and warming its belly.

▼ “warm me”

Every once in a while it will suddenly materialize in front of your face or turn the room blood-red all the while causing the fabric of reality to ripple. This is to be expected when crafting a Japanese doll and should go away with a quick prayer session.

As you continuously inject candle power into your doll’s heart it will evolve into a new form. By the time of this writing I gave my doll some pretty heavy attention so she was turning into a rather fine young lady, if I do say so myself.

As your doll evolves it also leaves you lovely letters to tell you how it’s doing.

 

 

mother

mother

 

sssssss…..

sssss…..

 

breathing

is delicious

 

more

i can

breathe!

 

Meanwhile, other virtual doll artisans on Twitter have progressed much further than me have and shared their various creations.

https://twitter.com/ChocoretoMoon/status/575661642005925888 https://twitter.com/kurosakiouka/status/575706769952931840

Be careful though, if you don’t nurture your doll enough you may wake up one day to this.

So there you have it! If you’re in the mood for a nice little time killer that also educates about the quaint art of fashioning Japanese dolls, Sodattete Nihon Ningyo is for you!

Sodatete Nihon Ningyo
iTunes
Google Play

Source: Naver Matome (Japanese)
Images: RocketNews24