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Dogū

Dogū are small humanoid figurines made during the later part of the Jōmon period. The purpose of the dogū remains unknown, but scholars believe it might have been used as superstition, for example, it may have been believed that illnesses could be transferred into the dogū, which were then destroyed, clearing the illness [1].

Picture of a dogu figurine.
Seen at the Tokyo National Museum, 2017. Jomon period 3000-2000 BC.

I was personally drawn to this figurine because when I was little one of my favorite games on Mega Drive (Sega Genesis) was Atomic Runner Chelnov. The second boss was a dogū as shown below.

Screenshot of the game Atomic Runner depicting the second boss.
Second boss in the game Atomic Runner.
See caption.
A similar Dogū, but in pieces. Most Dogū are found this way because they were intentionally broken as part of healing or fertility rituals. Seen at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2024.
See caption.
A different style of Dogū. Seen at the Tokyo National Museum, 2017.
See caption.
Yet another style of Dogū. Seen at the Tokyo National Museum, 2017.

References