Richly attired young woman doll wearing a tall gold eboshi hat, depicted carrying seawater in two wave-painted pails suspended from a yoke across her shoulders. The figure represents the shiokumi—female salt scoopers—drawn from two intertwined cultural narratives.
One tradition recalls the daughter of a celebrated inland lord who, during a time of war, famously carried salt, a gesture symbolic of loyalty and perseverance.
The second, more widely known, concerns the 9th-century sisters Matsukaze and Murasame, personified as shiokumi, who fell in love with the exiled courtier and poet Ariwara no Yukihira during his banishment in Suma. Upon his return to the capital, the sisters were left behind with only his cloak, hat, and a poem. Their enduring longing became the focus of the 14th-century Noh play Matsukaze ("Pine Wind"), later adapted into a Kabuki drama. The shiokumi’s distinctive dance eventually evolved into a celebrated independent performance.

Produced in mid-20th-century Japan, this kind of doll served both as a child's toy and as a decorative object, embodying themes of nostalgia, devotion, and the enduring power of classical Japanese literature and performance. This doll specifically is a type of costume doll used for display only.
The doll stands on a rectangular lacquered stand.