Mr. Piro

Sorry if you are scared of clowns!

This is a rather special doll. It was made in 1988 by the eminent Japanese clown doll designer, Koji Murai. This makes it 24 years old! I only take it out of the box once or twice a year at most, which is why it's in such good nick.

The story of how it came to be in my possession is quite interesting, so please settle down and make yourself comfortable while I set the scene.

In the 1980's and early 1990's, my father worked with several Japanese companies in his capacity as accountant for the English language school, ILC. He often travelled to Japan on business. One of the companies he did business with happened to be one that had sponsored Michael Jackson's "Bad" tour of Japan.

This doll (called Mr. Piro) and two others like it were commissioned to commemorate Michael Jackson's performance at the Tokyo Dome. One was given to the Managing Director of the company that sponsored the tour, one was kept by Koji Murai and the third was given to Michael Jackson himself.

The Japanese have a custom of giving presents to their business partners, and so it came to pass that the Managing Director's doll was gifted to my father, who then passed it to me. I've kept it ever since, wondering precisely how much it might be worth!