She is rounder and softer than most sōsaku figures of this size, the terracotta ground warm against the white of the carved plum blossoms. The flowers sit in shallow relief across her body, petals cut directly into the wood with white pigment worked into the recesses, each one slightly different from the next. The dark hair is smooth and close, the face simple and settled. She is the kind of object that reads clearly from across a room and rewards you further when you pick her up.

Kisaku (喜作) worked in the sōsaku tradition through the 1960s and 1970s, and his carved pieces are consistently sought by collectors for the quality and restraint of the cutting. The ume plum blossom is among the most traditional motifs in Japanese decorative craft, and placing it on a kokeshi in this form, incised rather than painted, without additional ornament, is a choice that relies entirely on the maker's confidence in the technique. Signed with the red hanko on the base.

She has a sister: a second Kisaku figure from the same period, taller and more angular, her outer kimono carved with broad sleeves and layered incised textile patterns. Both are available separately.