The great attraction of the Mona Lisa is the ambiguity of her expression. This allows the viewer to imagine, construct or project their own feelings onto the woman's face. This quality, which Da Vinci was only able to create by skillfully blurring the corners of the Mona Lisa's eyes and mouth, is perhaps also to be found in the typically blank face and inverted mouth of the teddy bear. For the past 10 years, this humble stuffed toy and its accouterments have served as the artistic vehicle for the increasingly imaginative and spellbinding productions of teddy bear artists Michi and Hiro Takahashi, whose work can currently be enjoyed at Yokohama's Doll Museum.

In the exhibition there are bears wearing kimono and dinky little bow ties, big bears, miniature bears, bears in all sorts of poses, bears with wings, and even bears with their own teddy bears! Often, as with "Look Here Bees! I'm Good Boy Takuya" (1996), there is a story.

"This is my masterwork," Michi explains, indicating the 30-cm-tall bear with a little dog cowering by its side. "I chose the name Takuya from the popular Japanese idol, Takuya Kimura. Takuya and his best friend, a puppy, always play together. One day, bees started attacking them, and the puppy hoped that Takuya would drive away all the bees. But the bees were too big for him."