Is this a Kokeshi doll or some other kind? and is the poem on the body
readable?

My dad got this out of a box his customer was giving away. They said it was
from Japan but I can't remember if he said they bought it as a souvenir or if
it was a gift. I know it was a long time ago. Over 30 years at least.

[![wood
girl](https://i.stack.imgur.com/njQ9t.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/njQ9t.jpg)
[![wood girl head
out](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NFhfo.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NFhfo.jpg)
[![wood
poem](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MQxup.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MQxup.jpg)
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question
word-requests
What is this wood doll thing with a poem on it?
The doll is a kokeshi; I would not know how else it could be called.

The writing on it is clearly the first half (the first **_four_** lines below)
of the [tanka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanka) by naturalist poet
[若山牧水](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokusui_Wakayama). (Personally lovin'
that extremely long 「リ」 in the second line.)

[幾山河]{いくやまかわ}

こえさり

ゆかば

[淋]{さび}しさの

はてなむ[国]{くに}ぞ

けふも[旅]{たび}ゆく

Why just the first half? You might ask. That is because in Japanese culture,
things left unsaid have just as much or even more 'power' than the things that
are said. The reader is expected to finish the poem by himself in his heart,
appreciating the act of doing so.

I would rather leave the translation to one of the experts here, but here is
one by me for starters. **If you know anything about Japanese, the original
word order will need to be switched around completely for an English
translation**.

"I have passed so many mountains and rivers,

Wondering if I ever reach a country

Where loneliness ends,

Here I go hiking again today"

If you translate, it is impossible to say exactly what part of it the writing
on the kokeshi corresponds to because of the drastic change in the word order.
It is just "about the first half".
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## Translation:

幾山河 こえさりゆかば 淋しさの はてなむ国ぞ けふも旅ゆく

Over river and mountain  
I search for a land without longing...  
and walk on another day

## Meaning:

山や河を越える度  
「淋しさが過ぎ去った  
こここそが其の国なのだろうか！」と思い（だが、そのようなものは存在しないとも。。。）  
それでもまた旅路を進むことにする

With each river and mountain that I pass,  
I think to myself,  
"Perhaps _this_ place is one without longing and want!" (yet, such a place
does not exist...)  
...and so I travel on

## Background info:

At the time of writing this poem in 1927, the author was 23 years old and
travelling home during summer break from university through the Chugoku region
of Japan to visit his ill father. He deliberately chose a route through the
mountains he had not taken before.

Based on the explanation found here:
<http://www.kangin.or.jp/what_kanshi/shiika_D13_3.html>
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