[1][2][3] The dogū was unearthed in a field overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the east coast of the Oshima Peninsula in August 1975, by a housewife turning over the soil with a hoe to harvest potatoes.

[4][5] To provide contextual information, a trench was opened and a Late Jōmon pit burial identified, complete with a jade pendant and fragments of a lacquered hairpin.

[4][7][8] Researchers from the Hakodate City Museum took the dogū to the municipal hospital for CT scanning, which helped cast light on the method of construction and on the interior, beyond what could be ascertained by shining a torch through the holes where the arms would be and on the top of the head.

The opening in the ornament between the legs connects with the rest of the hollow interior, and this has given rise to a number of different interpretations: it may have been inspired by contemporary pots with human figurative decoration and a spout where the foot would be; it may have been used in a funeral ritual relating to the burial context in which the figurine was found, the liquid-filled dogū being tipped up by the officiant and its contents poured over the body of the deceased and into the open mouths of the celebrants; it may have been filled with smoke or some other aetherial vapour; or it may simply and solely have been a device that functioned to improve the circulation of air during firing, a similar technique being used later in the firing of haniwa.

This has included an appeal for suggestions for a nickname, Kakkū (茅空) being chosen, a portmanteau combining the 茅 of Minamikayabe with the 空 of hollow, the winning submission being awarded a year's supply of ma-konbu.

[10] Designated a National Treasure in 2007, the following year the figurine was specially exhibited at the 34th G8 summit, in a display case in the hotel in Tōyako that provided the venue: the environment and climate change were one of the principal items on the agenda, and it was thought appropriate for there to be "a representative of the Jomon people who lived in harmony with nature".