Japanese Nesting Dolls

Hello

I am just home from clearing out my mother's house.

I found a variety of interesting toys and will post them on here for advice, if that is ok.

First off....

A set (possibly incomplete) of Japanese nesting dolls.

Six in total though the littlest one may be missing. I am not sure. Pretty sure they are Japanese.

What sort of date are they?
Value?

Any idea who these characters are depicting?

Many thanks

All help and advice hugely appreciated.

Measurements:
Height of big "egg" - 7.5 cm

Diameter - 5 cm