Sunday, March 11, 2007

Hina Matsuri

March 3rd in Japan was a special day called hina matsuri  ひな まつり or the doll's festival. On this day, it is customary for Japanese families to pray for the wellness and healthy growth of their daughters. Any family that has daughter's in their household is traditionally expected to display a special platform of dolls in their household. Theses platforms are usually tiered with between three to seven layers. Covering the platform is a bright red felt. On the top tier sits dolls of an emperor(obina) and empress(mebina) wearing costumes from the imperial court during the Heian period(794-1192). Behind the emperor and empress is a gold screen.

The next tier displays the "ladies-in waiting" (san nin kanjo). The one is the nagae no choushi - a woman who holds sake in a cup with a long handle. The second one is called the sanpou - she is a sitting doll that holds sake'. The last lady is kuwae no choushi - also, a sake' holder. Most families can't display the following dolls that I will mention. These dolls cost a lot of money and a typical display with only the 5 dolls to this point cost about $1,000.

The next tier displays the five musicians (go-nin bayashi). There is a drum (taiko) player, a large hand drum player (ookawa), a small hand drum player (katsumi), flute player(fue), and a singer (utaikata). The next tier displays two ministers(zuishiin). The one one the right is Udaijin and younger. Whereas, the one on the left (sadaijin) is created to be older and more wiser. This is because in the Japanese court long ago, the left was considered to be superior. Other things you may find on the platforms are mandarin, cherry or peach trees.

I got to partake in a festival while teaching at Kindergarden. All the girls were dressed up in summer kimono's. They performed a song and dance for me. All the boys were wearing little bow ties. It was adorable - seriously, one of the cutest things I've seen here. I wish I had brought my camera. The song they sang is the traditional Hina Masturi song. It goes like this:

Akari o tsukemasho bonbori ni        
あから を つけましょう ぼんぼり に
ohana o agemasho momo no hana
おはな を’あげましょう もも の はな
go nin bayashi no fue taiko
五 人 ばやし の ふえ たいこ
kyo wa tanoshii hinamatsuri
きょ は たのしい ひなまつり

Let's light the lanterns
Let's set peach flowers
Five court musicians are playing flutes and drums
Today is a fun doll's festival.

Afterwards, we ate the traditional food that is eaten on this day. The first food was a traditional rice cake called hishimochi. It is colored red, white and green for superstitious reasons. The red is for chasing evil spirits away, the white is for purity, and the green is for health.

The second food is called arare which literally translates as "hailstones." These things were pretty nasty - they were really sweet. Again, they come in the different colors for the superstitious reason.

The last food I tried in honor of this doll festival is "sakura mochi." Mochi is usually just a bean filled rice cake. However, for this festival the mochi is dyed pink and there is a sakura (cherry blossom) leaf wrapped around it. I enjoyed the actual mochi part but the sakura leaf was extremely salty.

The doll set is usually put up in February, but is expected by tradition to have the platforms disassembled by March 4th. There is the superstition that if a family does not do this on time - their daughter will get married much later than was expected in old time Japan.

The history of this festival was adapted from China. It began during the Edo period(1603-1867). Families believed that these dolls had the power to remove bad spirits that may be associated with a daughter's poor health, beauty of opportunities to marry. The superstition is that the bad spirits would be trapped into these dolls thus protecting the daughters in the household. In old times, these dolls would be sent down on a river, carrying these bad spirirts far, far away. According to some Japanese friends, this practice is still done in certain parts of Japan. I think it is for more cultural reasons moreso than people actually believing in the spirits.

As far as Japanese people still following this ritual - it seemed it was still done with most people I asked, but it seems to be not as important. One family had 5 tiers up, another family told me they can't afford the dolls, and another family only displayed the emperor and empress because they said it takes to long to put everything up and it takes up a lot of space in their house. Other houses that I had gone into, was quite similar - instead of many tiers, I just saw a simple display somewhere in the house - recognizing there is the festival, but not actually putting too much effort into creating their platforms.

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