Living Dolls
Japanese Living

Living Dolls (生人形/iki ningyo) were a name given to life-sized dolls that began to be made in the 1850s through the 1880s and initially were made in the likeness of historical figures or beautiful women. The dolls were typically made from wood from the princess tree (Paulownia tomentosa) and enamel.

Kisaburo Matsumoto (松本喜三郎) is thought to be the first to coin the name "living dolls" for his creations. Later Izumiya Kichibei (泉屋吉兵衛) developed characters from fairy tales or horror stories, thus some had unusually long limbs or other bizarre features.

Relevance to MAO

In chapter 204 Hakubi is using living dolls as tools for assassinations. Similarly a psudo-living doll was the focus of a story in Takahashi's Mermaid Saga.