Hinamatsuri
, also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, is an annual festival in Japan, celebrated on 3March of each year. Platforms covered with a red carpet material are used to display a set of ornamental dolls representing the emperor, empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period.
Customs
is one of the five seasonal festivals that are held on auspicious dates of the Lunisolar calendar: the first day of the first month, the third day of the third month, and so on. After the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, these were fixed on 1January, 3March, 5May, 7July, and 9September. The festival was traditionally known as the Peach Festival, as peach trees typically began to flower around this time. Although this is no longer true since the shift to Gregorian dates, the name remains and peaches are still symbolic of the festival.The primary aspect of is the display of seated female and male dolls, which represent a Heian period wedding, but are usually described as the Empress and Emperor of Japan. The dolls are usually seated on red cloth, and may be as simple as pictures or folded paper dolls, or as intricate as carved three-dimensional dolls. More elaborate displays will include a multi-tiered doll stand of dolls that represent ladies of the court, musicians, and other attendants, with all sorts of accoutrements. The entire set of dolls and accessories is called the. The number of tiers and dolls a family may have depends on their budget.
Families normally ensure that girls have a set of the two main dolls before their first. The dolls are usually fairly expensive and may be handed down from older generations as heirlooms. The spends most of the year in storage, and girls and their mothers begin setting up the display a few days before 3March. Traditionally, the dolls were supposed to be put away by the day after, the superstition being that leaving the dolls any longer will result in a late marriage for the daughter, but some families may leave them up for the entire month of March. Practically speaking, the encouragement to put everything away quickly is to avoid the rainy season and humidity that typically follows.
Historically, the dolls were used as toys, but in modern times they are intended for display only. The display of dolls is usually discontinued when the girls reach ten years of age.
During and the preceding days, girls hold parties with their friends. Typical foods include,,,, and. The customary drink is, also called lit. "sweet sake", a non-alcoholic sake.
ceremonies are held around the country, where participants make dolls out of paper or straw and send them on a boat down a river, carrying one's impurities and sin with them. Some locations, such as at the Nagashibina Doll Museum in Tottori City, still follow the lunisolar calendar instead of doing it on 3March.
, traditional decoration for, are lengths of coloured cords, usually featuring decorations of miniature baby-dolls, which were originally made from leftover kimono silk. are not limited to featuring miniature baby-dolls, but also flowers, shells, balls, colourful triangles to represent mountains, etc., and with tassels at the bottom.
Origin
It is said that the first time dolls were shown in the manner they are now as part of the Peach Festival was when the young princess Meisho succeeded to the throne of her abdicating father, Emperor Go-Mizunoo, in 1629. Because empresses regnant in Japan at the time were not allowed to get married, Meisho's mother, Tokugawa Masako, created a doll arrangement showing Meisho blissfully wedded. then officially became the name of the festival in 1687. Doll-makers began making elaborate dolls for the festival. Over time, the evolved to include fifteen dolls and accessories. As dolls became more expensive, tiers were added to the so that the expensive ones could be placed out of the reach of young children.During the Meiji period as Japan began to modernize and the emperor was restored to power, was deprecated in favor of new holidays that focused on the emperor's supposed bond with the nation. By focusing on marriage and families, it represented Japanese hopes and values. The dolls were said to represent the emperor and empress; they also fostered respect for the throne. The holiday then spread to other countries via the Japanese diaspora, although it remains confined to Japanese immigrant communities and descendants.
Placement of dolls
The actual placement order of the dolls from left to right varies according to family tradition and location, but the order of dolls per level is the same. The layer of covering is called or simply, a red carpet with rainbow stripes at the bottom. The description that follows is for a complete set.First, top platform
The top tier holds two dolls, known as imperial dolls. The word means "imperial palace". These are the holding a ritual baton and holding a fan. The pair are also known as and or and . Although they are sometimes referred to as the Emperor and Empress, they only represent the positions and not particular individuals themselves. The two are usually placed in front of a gold folding screen and placed beside green Japanese garden trees.Optional are the two lampstands, called, and the paper or silk lanterns that are known as, which are usually decorated with cherry or plum blossom patterns.
Complete sets would include accessories placed between the two figures, known as, composing of two vases of artificial peach branches.
Generally speaking, the Kansai style arrangement has the male on the right, while Kantō style arrangements have him on the left.
Second platform
The second tier holds three court ladies who serve sake to the male and female dolls. Commonly, two dolls are standing on both sides of one seated doll, but there are people who use two seated dolls on both sides of one standing doll.The doll on the viewer's left bears a short-handled sake decanter. The one on the viewer's right holds a long-handled sake decanter. The doll in the middle carries different items in Kyoto compared with the rest of Japan. In Kyoto, the middle doll carries a small platform used in celebratory decorations upon which is something auspicious such as the Three Friends of Winter; whereas in the rest of Japan, she carries a small table upon which a sake cup is rested.
Accessories placed between the ladies are, stands with round table-tops for seasonal sweets, excluding.
Third platform
The third tier holds five male musicians. Each holds a musical instrument except the singer, who holds a fan:- Small drum, seated,
- Large drum, standing,
- Hand drum, standing,
- Flute, or, seated,
- Singer, holding a folding fan, standing.
Fourth platform
Two ministers may be displayed on the fourth tier. These may be the emperor's bodyguards or administrators in Kyoto: the Minister of the Right and the Minister of the Left. Both are sometimes equipped with bows and arrows. When representing the ministers, the Minister of the Right is depicted as a young person, while the Minister of the Left is older because that position was the more senior of the two. Also, because the dolls are placed in positions relative to each other, the Minister of the Right will be on "stage right" and the Minister of the Left will be on the other side.Between the two figures are covered bowl tables, also referred to as, as well as diamond-shaped stands bearing diamond-shaped hishi mochi.
Just below the ministers: on the rightmost, a mandarin orange tree, and on the leftmost, a cherry blossom tree.
Fifth platform
The fifth tier, between the plants, holds three helpers or protectors of the Emperor and Empress:In the Kyōto style, from the viewer's left to right the dolls are:
- Crying drinker bearing a rake,
- Angry drinker bearing a dustpan, and
- Laughing drinker bearing a broom
- Angry drinker bearing an umbrella hat at the end of a pole,
- Crying drinker bearing a shoe platform, and
- Laughing drinker bearing an umbrella
Other platforms
Sixth platform
These are items used within the palatial residence.- : chest of drawers, sometimes with swinging outer covering doors.
- : long chest for kimono storage.
- : smaller clothing storage box, placed on top of nagamochi.
- : literally mirror stand, a smaller chest of drawers with a mirror on top.
- : sewing kit box.
- two : braziers.
- : a set of or, utensils for the tea ceremony.
Seventh, bottom platform
- , a set of nested lacquered food boxes with either a cord tied vertically around the boxes or a stiff handle that locks them together.
- .
- Less common,, an ox drawing a cart of flowers.