TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Okiagari Koboshi project launched by Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada is touring Taiwan for the first time, with a show at the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, until Nov. 20.

Okiagari Koboshi (meaning "priest who gets back up") are traditional Japanese dolls made of papier-mache that can't be pushed over. Kenzo launched the project in Paris after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011, asking celebrities such as Jean Reno and Michel Klein to draw on the dolls and auction them off for charity.

The project was launched in 2013 and since then has been on a world tour. The show in Taipei was organized by Okiagari Koboshi project in Taiwan.

(Taiwan News photo)

It features a lineup of the nation's finest fashion designers, artists, and craftsmen. The 70 individuals — including Mickey Huang (黃子佼), Chen Jun-liang (陳俊良), and Daniel Wong (黃偉豪) — produced 274 works. In addition, Shih Chien University students contributed.

Kenzo Takada passed away in October after contracting COVID-19. A pre-recorded video was played at the press conference Tuesday (Nov. 12), in which the designer said, "Let us use Okiagari Koboshi to connect the hearts of the world together."