Kokeshi from the manga.
An example of one [Kobayashi]
The third game that Takahata Shun must play is in the hospital, after he manages to escape the school. Here he finds three (four in the live action) kokeshi dolls that want to play a game called "Kagome Kagome!"
In the manga, the kokeshi play a game called "Kagome Kagome". It consists in one person sitting with their eyes closed in the middle of a ring of kokeshi while circling around him while playing a song. When the song comes to an end, the kokeshi stop and the person in the middle has to guess who's standing behind him. If he guesses correctly, the children swap places, and the game starts again, but when you guess correctly the kokeshi who is behind you will melt and the person inside it will be saved (all of the kokeshis explode in the movie), but if they guess wrong they will be killed by getting shot by a laser (Hanako will shoot a laser on their head, then the kokeshis use telekinesis to control the players body parts by either crashing or pulling or in other ways
The lyrics of the song that is chanted actually have quite a dark meaning.
- Kagome, Kagome, the bird in the cage, bird in the cage
- When oh when, will it come out?
- In the evening of the dawn,
- the crane the turtle slipped they slipped.
- who is the one behind you now?
The bird in the cage is a child in the womb (a Japanese expression analogous to "a bun in the oven") and the crane and the turtle -- symbols of longevity -- "slip", meaning miscarriage or stillbirth.
The japanese lyrics are- Kagome Kagome Kago No Naka No Tori Wa Itsu Itsu deyaru yoake no ban ni tsuru to kame ga subetta ushiro no shoumen da-a-are
Real traditional kokeshi
Shun manages to guess who is behind him (Shouko). What he does is talk to the Kokeshi before starting the game, therefore managing to reconize each kokeshi by the sound of their voice. He then remembers the position they are in while they are circling around him. Once the game has begun, he just waits until one of them talks, which is Kobayashi, determines it's position and then can easily know who is standing behind him, who will fall to the ground and will be saved
Kokeshi are Japanese dolls, originally from northern Japan. They are handmade from wood, have a simple trunk and an enlarged head. The body has a floral design painted, typically in red and covered with a layer of wax. The bottom is marked with the signature of the artist.
Kokeshi in the manga[]
Engacho, the kokeshi who turns people into kokeshi, is lurking the hallways of the hospital looking for victims. Here is a list of everyone he turns into kokeshi (that we know of).
