Happy Belated Hina Matsura!

Hina Matsura is a holiday in Japan known as "girl's day" and is celebrated on 03 March. Boys have a day that is called "tango no sekku" and is celebrated May 5th with kites shaped like carp. Japanese families place very ornate dolls (called hina ningyo) out in February for their little girls and leave them out until Hina Matsura. The dolls were thought in older times to have the power to keep bad spirits away from the little girl thereby ensuring her safety and happiness. There are many different types of dolls today that range from those straight out of popular culture (Disney, Anpanman and Hello Kitty) to more traditional Japanese dolls made from white ceramic. The dolls are based on the imperial court from fuedal times with an Emperor and Empress taking center stage. The more expensive sets also have other dolls respresenting those who might have served the imperial court as well as pieces of furniture, flowers representing peach blossoms and other decorations. The prices range from around forty dollars to thousands of dollars. We bought the Mickey and Minnie hina ningyo for Momoka when we were recently in Japan because they were easy to bring aboard the plane as a carry on item (even the Disney dolls are breakable). We had wanted to buy Momoka a set of more traditional ceramic dolls but kind of ran out of time to get the dolls mailed to our hotel in Japan and then shipped back to the US. Carrying a large set of these dolls onto the plane would have been a no-no because the box would have been much to large. Checking these dolls as baggage would not have been a good idea as they probably would have gotten smooshed. Maybe we'll get a more ornate set for next year's Hina Matsura. At the bottom of this post are some links to pictures of doll sets and also some sites that have more information on this holiday.

One last point - hina ningyo (especially the expensive ones) are not for play. Little girls can't take the dolls down from their perches and have a "tea party" with them. I think that will be the most difficult thing - keeping Momoka's little fingers off those dolls!

桐箱に入った素敵な雛人形は帰国に間に合わず、今回はディズニーの雛人形を買って帰りました。これはこれで可愛いですよね。パパが最後まで推したアンパンマンにしないで良かった。。。パパはどうしてアンパンマンが好きなのかしらん？



BABIESRUS NO.1
BABIESRUS NO.2
BABIESRUS NO.3
BABIESRUS NO.4
WIKIPEDIA
GINKOYA

March 03, 2009