The rustic and charming Japanese paradise flycatcher (sankōchō) is printed on cotton using a woodblock and stuffed with rice husks. The rice husks give the perfect amount of volume and firmness to bring the expertly shaped and printed creature to life.
The flycatcher is a migratory bird native to southeastern Asia and the males have exceptionally long tails. Its Japanese name sankōchō literally means "three-lights-bird" and derives from its song, which sounds like tsuki-hi-hoshi, meaning "moon-sun-stars" in Japanese. The stuffed bird's belly is decorated with the images of the moon, sun and stars.
A red tag on the string says sankōchō on one side and "hand printed woodblock by Shinkougei" on the other. It gives a nice accent to any bird lover's room; it also works as a Christmas tree ornament.
Specifications
Who Makes It
Founded in 1972 in Hida Takayama, Shinkougei is a craft workshop that specializes in creating various types of craftwork using woodblock print techniques.