Hina Matsuri in Japan. Hina Matsuri girls' festival in Japan. Girls' Day from a loving father: from the imperial family to every girl
The ancient festival of the Land of the Rising Sun combines the Japanese passion for miniature art with their traditionally reverent attitude towards children.
On the third of March, Girls' Day is celebrated throughout Japan, which is considered one of the main spring celebrations in the land of the rising sun. On this day, families with girls organize miniature doll exhibitions in lush clothes, and the children themselves get the opportunity to show off in elegant kimonos and be the center of everyone’s favorable attention.
The central custom of Hina Matsuri is the display of “hina ningyo” dolls in miniature copies of court vestments of the Heian era (794-1185). The “Imperial Court”, led by dolls of the emperor (“o-dairi-sama”) and the empress (“o-hina-sama”), is placed on special multi-tiered stands “hinadan” or “hinakazari”. Such dolls are considered one of the most expensive and desired gifts for the birth of a girl from the mother’s parents. Many of them are handmade from the most expensive materials, and the oldest and rarest dolls become part of family heirlooms passed down from generation to generation.
The graceful design of the hinakazari is usually complemented by symbolic decorations in the form of peach blossoms, as well as balls of artificial cherry petals and tangerine tree attached to the ceiling. In Japan, the peach serves as a symbolic reflection of the best qualities of a woman - tenderness, meekness, grace and restraint. Therefore, his flowers, which appear just in time for Hina Matsuri, should be a guarantee that the girl will become ideal woman, and later on as a wife - the basis of any strong family.
Children themselves also play a vital role in the celebration of Hina Matsuri. On this day, girls put on elegant kimonos and, just like grown-up ladies, visit each other to exchange gifts, try traditional sweets and admire the exhibition of elegant dolls. The hostess and her young guests must demonstrate impeccable knowledge of etiquette, femininity and respect for home comfort.
Hina Matsuri (“Doll Festival”), also known as Josei no sekku (“First Day of the Snake Festival”) and Momo no sekku (“Peach Blossom Festival”), has ancient history. It is generally accepted that this custom originated at the court of the powerful 17th-century shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune, whose family had many daughters. Initially, Hina Matsuri was celebrated only at the court of the emperor and in the houses of noble nobles, and at the end of the Edo era the celebration received national recognition.
Many researchers suggest that the Girls' Day dates back to even more ancient times. magical rite“Hina-okuri”, which the Japanese performed on the third day of the third moon or “Snake Day”. On this night, it was customary to lower paper baskets with “nagashi bina” dolls along the running waters, which were supposed to take with them all the evil spirits that would send illnesses to people.
Who knows what this day is famous for in Japan? It is on this day, March 3, that the “Hina Matsuri”, in Japanese 雛祭 or in other words “Doll Festival,” is held in Japan. This holiday for girls is celebrated annually on the 3rd day of the 3rd month. On the eve of this day, in houses where there are daughters, a stepped stand covered with a red felt mat is installed in the guest room, and colorful dolls and other figurines are placed to represent the inhabitants of the imperial palace. This tradition has come from ancient times and is preserved in many homes to this day.
Dolls can be very different - expensive, valuable and very simple, but they all depict characters from the imperial court of the Heian era. At the very top, dolls depicting the emperor and empress in ceremonial costumes are placed against the background of a screen. This pair of dolls is called dairibina and symbolizes marital happiness, so they are given to newlyweds.
On the second step there are three court ladies, below - two ministers, musicians, servants, as well as items from palace use - palanquins, carts, furniture, lacquerware, boxes and other things. At the edges of the stand, two artificial trees are usually placed in a fence, representing a plum and a peach.
Thus, the entire design has a symbolic and benevolent meaning, right down to the tiny dogs that symbolize loyalty and devotion. The dolls are installed many days before the onset of March 3, and removed immediately after the end of the holiday, preferably on the same day. The Japanese have a belief that if you remove dolls at the wrong time, but later, the girls will get married late.
When a girl is born in a family, the young family is obliged to purchase such a set. Quite often, these dolls are passed down from generation to generation in a family, or even given to a daughter as a dowry. Hina-ningyo sets always take pride of place among the items in the home of every family, especially where there are daughters. It is precisely because of its beauty and often considerable price. Some ancient sets also have significant cultural value. For both girls and their families, hinakazari sets are very expensive.
The origin of Hina Matsuri dates back to a very long time, when in Japan there was a ritual of cleansing from diseases and evil forces with the help of straw or paper dolls. During the ritual, a person blew on the doll and then rubbed his body with it so that all the contamination of the soul and body would transfer to the figurine. Then the doll was thrown into the nearest river or stream: it was believed that all illnesses and adversities floated away with it. Gradually this custom underwent changes.
In the Heian era, dairibina began to be placed in the house on a sacred shelf - kamidana, where there were figurines of Shinto deities and tablets with the names of ancestors. From the end of the 17th century. the religious tradition began to turn into a Puppet Festival. This is a kind and quiet holiday with its simple joys. Girls from seven to fifteen years old especially love it.
On this day, girls and their mothers in elegant clothes, usually in kimonos, solemn and ceremonious, like real ladies, visit each other, give and receive gifts, treat themselves to special sweets and admire the dolls displayed on stands. These dolls are never played with. After the holiday, they are carefully wrapped in paper, placed in boxes and put away until next year. Hina dolls are very cherished and are passed down from mother to daughter.
When I myself studied at a Japanese language school in Japan, I was taken as an arubaito to a store that sold sets of hina-ningyo dolls for March, and then go-gatsu-ningyo for May (I’ll also tell you about the boys’ holiday later). I really enjoyed working there. I learned a lot of interesting things not only about these dolls, but about this glorious holiday and its features.
Then I learned all the names, learned to place all the dolls and other toys correctly on the steps without prompting. My responsibilities in the store included many things: unpacking new dolls, placing them correctly on the steps, carefully and neatly packing those that customers bought. Every day I was obliged to dust off all the dolls on display in the sales area and make sure that all the items stood straight and in their places.
The store sold dolls for every color and taste, also for every budget. From simpler and inexpensive to very expensive. In one of the most honorable corners of the store there was a separate pedestal with the Emperor and Empress of rather impressive size and unusual beautiful design. These dolls were made especially for the store by a very famous artist from Kyoto. This set cost about $10,000 at that time (several years ago). This was the most expensive set that was then presented in the store. But no one ever bought it. They just looked at it and admired it.
When I asked the store manager why there was such an expensive set here, no one buys it anyway, they told me that it was necessary for the status of the store. Well, and for decoration and pride, this set was made by a famous Kyoto master and exists in a single copy.
Later, when I more or less mastered the terminology and filled out the placement rules, they began to hire me to deliver dolls to Japanese homes to those who bought them. My responsibilities included not only bringing all the boxes and handing them over to the customers, but also unpacking them in order and then placing them on a stepped stand, that is, placing all the dolls correctly in their places. Moreover, I had to comment on all my actions and names for the owners of the house. This had to be done in a special apron and rag white gloves.
You should have seen the faces of the people we visited when they saw me! At first there was a huge surprise that a foreigner came to them at all, and then an even greater surprise when I started telling them in Japanese how and where to place them correctly! It’s a pity then I couldn’t photograph the facial expressions of Japanese families, it would have turned out to be an unusual photo album :)
It often turned out that the owners of the house knew much less about the dolls and the order of their correct placement on the pedestal than I, a foreigner, did. For me, this was both surprising and a source of pride:) I had a good and interesting part-time job at the time.
Later, while working at a Japanese language school, this experience came in handy - I helped our teachers conduct a culture lesson dedicated to this holiday.
Every Japanese language school also displays very large and beautiful Hina-Ningyo sets. In the photo above you can see the sets at the school where I worked in Tokyo.
On March 3, teachers tell all students in each group about the traditions of this holiday, show dolls and explain the meaning of each item on the pedestal. In addition, our school served a special hour with sakura and Japanese sweets to accompany it. While drinking tea together, we discussed Japanese traditions and the wonderful girls' holiday Hina Matsuri. All the students were always very interested.
If you are in Japan, be sure to admire the Hina Ningyo and also take part in the Hina Matsuri festival. Maybe you know a Japanese family where you will visit for this holiday. Because on March 3rd it is also customary to serve a special green tea, sakura petals can float there, and special sweets that should be consumed along with green tea.
And if you go to study at a Japanese language school, you can see all this at the school and learn about the tradition of celebration from the teachers of the Japanese language school. It's very interesting and educational.
Hina Ningyo: Emperor and Empress
At home I also have 2 dolls as souvenirs - the emperor and the empress. Only without a pedestal and special bedding. True, after several moves between cities and countries, not everything was preserved, unfortunately. But we preserve the dolls as best we can :) As they should be, they stand in a place of honor.
Congratulations to everyone who has girls in the family on this spring holiday! I wish you happiness and prosperity!
Girls' Day, or Hinamatsuri, has been celebrated as a national holiday in Japan since the 18th century, although the history of this holiday goes back more than a thousand years.
On Girls' Day (March 3), it is customary in Japan to dress up all the little ones in elegant kimonos and display traditional shelves with beautiful dolls, take girls to visit each other, treat them to delicious rice cookies and send paper dolls of the “emperor” and “empress” along the rivers.
Tradition of Girls' Day - Snake Day: paper dolls take away sorrows
In ancient times, the Japanese greatly revered March 3 - “the third day of the third moon,” or Snake Day - when, according to legend, one should take a paper doll, rub it on the skin, then place it in a wicker basket and lower it down the river or stream, saying prayers that so that the paper doll takes away all illnesses and misfortunes with it. This ritual was usually performed by women or girls. Over time, paper dolls began to be associated specifically with girls’ well-being; names were written on them and thrown into the river so that the spirits would save the growing daughter from troubles and problems.
The tradition of lowering paper dolls down the river has survived to this day in some prefectures of Japan, and the custom itself over time has grown into a beautiful national holiday.
Girls' Day from a loving father: from the imperial family to every girl
The transformation of Snake Day into a Girls' Day was facilitated by one of the Japanese emperors of the Tokugawa dynasty, who had many daughters. The emperor loved his girls very much, was proud of them, gave richly dressed dolls and introduced the custom of organizing doll exhibitions on the “third day of the third moon”, celebrating Girls’ Day. At first, such a day of dolls depicting the life of the imperial court was considered a holiday for girls from the court circle, and then the custom spread to the people and even became official public holiday- Happy girls day.
And although after the Second World War, the Girls' Festival, or the Dolls' Festival, was excluded from the list of state ones and became a domestic one. But to this day, the whole of Japan celebrates Girls' Day on March 3rd.
Girls' Day Tradition: Guests
When preparing for Girls' Day, the Japanese start early. Throughout February, fairs are held in Japan - the Hinaichi doll markets, when you can not only purchase the necessary attributes for the celebration of Hinamatsuri, but also communicate with families, and girls can meet new friends.
During the holiday, girls dress up in beautiful kimonos with floral patterns, visit each other, receive and give gifts, have meals with special holiday treats - colorful rice and molasses cookies, sweet sake, and admire dolls. Girls' Day ceremonies allow Japanese parents to demonstrate to others that their daughter is well-mannered, has good manners and knows the rules of etiquette.
Girls' Day dolls are brought up
When choosing a gift for a little girl, any of us, without hesitation, will choose a doll. Why do girls love dolls? Some people like that they can dress up dolls to their liking, while others like to do role-playing games with dolls. But Japanese girls have a special relationship with dolls.
Even the day before the Doll Festival, every family where a girl is growing up puts on public display a multi-tiered stand covered with red fabric, on which special dolls are displayed in a strictly defined order. The tradition of choosing dolls and the order of their placement on the stand has not changed for many centuries. Dolls are not meant for play, and girls know this very well. According to the Japanese, a doll exhibition has a certain educational value: a girl gets used to restraining her whims and desires (grabbing a doll and playing with it), learning to admire beauty and take care of valuable things.
Girls' Day dolls - only on the shelves: They sat on the golden porch...
The Japanese Girls' Day is personified primarily by dolls. These are special dolls depicting members of the imperial court. To display them, a red hinakazari stand is prepared, which has 5 or 7 tiers.
The upper tier is occupied by figures of the Emperor and Empress - the most expensive dolls in the collection. They are seated against the backdrop of a gilded screen and dressed in silk and brocade clothes, and 12 kimonos are put on the Empress. Between the figures, a sacred tree decorated with paper festoons is placed on a stand, and lanterns are placed on the sides of the dolls.
The second tier is traditionally occupied by three figures of court ladies holding sake pouring utensils in their hands.
On the third tier there are 4 figures of court musicians with different musical instruments in their hands and a singer doll holding a fan.
The fourth tier is usually occupied by two figures of ministers.
On the fifth they place warriors - one with swords, the other with a bow and arrows, as well as figures of servants.
Traditionally, there should be at least 15 dolls, but in modern interpretations, shelves with dolls on Girls’ Day are decorated with a smaller number of stylized dolls; the “emperor” and “empress” invariably remain the main ones.
Another two tiers are usually occupied by toy carriages and palanquins for noble ladies, pieces of doll furniture and kitchen utensils, boxes, small trees in tubs, traditional rice cookies - mochi on lacquered plates.
This entire multi-tiered structure is decorated with peach flower petals (the holiday coincides with the beginning of the flowering of peach trees) and paper lanterns.
Girls' Day dolls are often handmade from clay, wood, paper or porcelain and can be very expensive and passed down from generation to generation.
When a girl is born into a family, her maternal grandmother gives her a doll with wishes of health. The family begins displaying dolls on Girls' Day the first year their daughter is born.
You can admire the exhibited dolls for about a month. It is not customary to keep dolls for longer, otherwise the girl may delay her marriage. At the end of the Girls' Day, the dolls are carefully wrapped in paper, packed into boxes and put away until next year.
“They came out of the box. Could I forget your faces? A couple of holiday dolls? Yesa Buson
One evening, while wandering the streets of Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, I walked into a shop whose name can be translated as “Mother and Child”.
The assortment there was varied - from small terry napkins for wiping children's faces to educational toys, in general, everything that can be useful for a mother in communicating with her child. And although at that time my children were already quite adults, and a grandson was just planned, I amused my inner child and bought several sets for traditional Japanese paper dolls. They sat on my shelf for a year and a half, and finally I got to them and was transported back to childhood - just in time for the Hina Matsuri holiday.
March in Japan is traditionally considered women's month. March 3 is the girls' holiday, which is affectionately called Hina Matsuri (Hina Doll Festival) or Momo-no Sekku (Peach Blossom Festival). In ancient times, it was celebrated on the 3rd day of the 3rd month simply as a seasonal event. At this time, the peasants were relatively free from agricultural work and could enjoy the first warm days when the peach trees began to bloom. The celebration of Hina Matsuri is based on several different traditions. One of them dates back to the Heian era (794-1185) - on this day, noble families invited spellcasters who performed special prayers aimed at transferring all the troubles of people to paper dolls, which were then allowed to float along the river or sea . These dolls were called "nagashi-bina" - dolls lowered down the river.
Initially, the holiday was celebrated only at court and among the military class, but soon quickly spread among the people. The national holiday of dolls became a national holiday in the 18th century, at which time the custom was added of organizing exhibitions of richly dressed dolls, depicting the life and customs of the imperial palace, in houses where there were girls. This custom continues to this day.
Now these are not paper dolls, but real works of art made of ceramics and silk, dressed in luxurious clothes. Hina dolls are not intended for everyday play; they are usually displayed in the central room of the house on a special shelf - hinadana - and simply admired for several days. Some of these doll sets are very expensive and are passed down in the family from generation to generation. Usually, when a girl is born into a family, the parents buy a new set of dolls, which is then supplemented by those dolls that are given to them by relatives and friends. As a rule, a set includes at least 15 dolls dressed in vintage layered clothes Red. The most valuable and richly decorated are the dolls depicting the emperor (o-Dairi-sama) and the empress (o-Hime-sama) in ancient silk ceremonial outfits. The doll exhibitions are being prepared for March 3 and last about a month. There is a belief that dolls should not be displayed for a long time, as this delays the desired hour of marriage, so all items are carefully packaged and stored until next year. By March 3, the room where the doll exhibition is located is also decorated: balls made of artificial cherry and tangerine flowers are hung from the ceiling. Each ball is decorated with a hanging silk cord. On this day, girls in elegant kimonos, like real ladies, visit each other, give and receive gifts, treat themselves to special sweets and admire dolls. So, in a playful, relaxed manner, girls are taught the rules of good manners, the concept of character traits that a woman should have, and the ability to take care of valuable things, restraining their desires and whims.
Thus, the traditions of Hina Matsuri ideally combine wonderful play, a poetic perception of the world and traditional education. And peach flowers (momo), which give another name to the holiday, in Japan also symbolize feminine tenderness, kindness, gentleness and, as a result, a happy marriage. It is no coincidence that quite a lot of weddings take place on the Hina Matsuri holiday.
And here are those same sets bought in a Japanese store, and what came out of them.
Each set contains a diagram, the necessary paper for work and even laces for the loops and belt on the obi.
I admit that it was not so much the desire to make these dolls that prompted me to buy, but rather the desire to touch real Japanese paper for crafts - it is simply a delight! Visual and tactile :)
So far I have only managed to make one of the four dolls. They are cool - the reverse side is also good, you can play with them.
Of course, this is not origami; I don’t even know what to call such work correctly. But for the sake of a couple of dolls I won’t introduce a new tag, let it be like this.
So girls, happy yet another holiday to you! Let there always be a place in your soul for a little enthusiastic girl :)
