inu hariko has a minion!

りゅう the Denglong

mamori inu

HARIKO is the japanese term for objects made by molding wet washi paper (like papier-maché) and then being painted with gofun (a type of whitewash made with the powder from oyster shells). many traditional japanese folk toys are made in this way, but none are more endearing than the INU HARIKO.

cute, curly-tailed and adorned in an auspicious red, these benevolent dog amulets are revered for offering protection over children, providing safety to new mothers, and bringing blessings of good fortune and security to the home. due to their whiskers, they’re often mistaken for cats by people outside of japan. some are depicted with baskets on their heads (zaru kaburi inu) and others with a denden drum to keep away evil influence and bad luck.

there are many other kinds of mamori inu (dog amulet) that aren’t attached to the hariko kind. wrapped in floral bibs and bells, they come in many shapes and sizes. sometimes they carry fish, sometimes they ride fish, and sometimes they clutch gourds like their life depends on it. inu no dorei 犬土鈴 clay bells (of which i own many) and the otogi inu dolls お伽犬 (female and male dog couple lying down) are just two of the boundless examples of dog omamori.
many moons ago, I visited a japanese folk toy museum called gangukan in kurashiki, okayama. the museum features around 10,000 toys and sculptures made from the 1600s to the present, and i appreciated every single one of them. that visit sparked my profound fascination with folk toys, particularly mamori inu, and i’ve been collecting them ever since.

if you love folk toys as much as i do, check out unai no tomo (a child’s friends) — a series of books published by seifu shimizu in the late 1800s documenting ten volumes of gorgeous woodblock prints of traditional japanese folk toys. acquiring the series is nearly impossible with rare used copies being sold for extremely high prices, but you can peek some of the scans here!

CREDITSpet profile (c) goodboy
font (c) googlefonts shadows into light
pet overlay, text (c) goodboy
img 5 my inu hariko tattoo by @mokoo_tt on instagram
img 1,6 (c) this incredible little site
img 2,7 photographed by goodboy
img 3,4 (c) seifu shimizu unai no tomo
img 8 (c) swimsuit department
img 9 from mocad-shopimg 10 (c) daruma blog
divider illustrations from MUJI’s year of the dog can
clay bell top left from eBay (original supplier unknown)
art bottom left (c) goodboy
art top right (c) goodboy
Omamori - Japanese Amulets: Dog Blog for more folk toy fun