Hina Matsuri: Japanese Doll Festival - AKA "Girls Day"

 

Girls Day, AKA "Hina Matsuri" (雛祭り) is just around the corner! At almost every Japanese supermarket you can hear the music of Girls Day, and you can see Girls Day dolls display at many department stores and fancy hotels. In this blog post, learn about this Japanese tradition.

The Japanese have holidays celebrating children. Officially, the Japanese celebrate Children’s Day (子どもの日, kodomo no hi) on May 5th, which is supposed to be a holiday for children of any sex. In practice, however, the Japanese celebrate the birth of boys and girls on two separate holidays.

Children’s Day is an official holiday, and is one of the holidays of "Golden Week" (ゴールデンウィーク). It celebrates the health and happiness of all children, but it also just happens to fall on "Boy’s Day," a separate unofficial holiday, otherwise known as Tango no Sekku (端午の節句). There is a corresponding day for girls, known as Hina Matsuri (雛祭り), also known as the Festival of Dolls.

Hina Matsuri, otherwise known as "Girls Day," is celebrated on March 3rd, but it is not an official national holiday, which is a point of contention for some. (Why does only Boys Day get an official holiday?) This day is dedicated to girls everywhere, and it is used to pray for a girl’s healthy growth and happiness. The festival is not without traditional idealism however, as prayers were originally made for girls that they may develop the virtues expected in a “good” Japanese woman, namely respect for one’s parents, chastity and marriageability. Originally, the observation of this day was based on the Chinese lunar calendar, and it coincided with the blooming of peach blossoms, which is why this holiday was also known as the “Peach Blossom Festival” (桃の節句, momo no sekku).

The highlight of Hina Matsuri is a tiered display of traditional dolls, called hina in Japanese (雛), that is put out for the occasion. How the dolls are displayed and how many varies by region, but the set of dolls are essentially a married couple dressed in garb from the Heian Period, often interpreted as the emperor and empress. A full set of dolls usually also includes a court of three ladies, five musicians and three servants. Other items that could accompany the display are traditionally Japanese household items, such as furniture, tea ceremony utensils, a sewing kit, dishes, tools, etc., everything that a good lady should have.

 Full hina doll set; from top to bottom, the emperor and empress,

three ladies-in-waiting, and five hayashi musicians.

Musicians from left to right; shime-daiko (締め太鼓), okawa (大革),

tsuzumi or shoulder drum (鼓), shinobue or transverse flute (篠笛), and singer.

Nowadays, people live in cramped apartments, and it isn’t always possible to have a huge Hina Matsuri tiered display. In these conditions, often times miniature sets with just the male and female figure are displayed.

 Simple Hina Doll Set

Why dolls, and what does it all mean? Hina Matsuri stems from ancient Chinese beliefs that it was possible to transfer sins, impurities and bad luck to a doll, and that it was possible to rid one of these things by abandoning the doll somewhere. Thus Hina Matsuri was essentially a purification rite to rid girls of sickness and bad luck, and to ensure healthy growth. To date, there are still some parts in Japan where people practice some form of doll abandonment or doll burning ceremonies.

Girls setting hina dolls on the water. This practice is called "nagashibina." (流し雛)

 "Nagashibina" means "Hina that are washed away."

The display of a married couple with all the essentials for a good home was also a wish that the girls were able to find good husbands and marry well. The superstition was that if the Hina Matsuri doll display was not properly put away as soon as the festival was over, the girls in the family would have trouble marrying.

A few days before the festival, the dolls are taken out of their boxes and arranged on a tiered display covered by a red cloth called hi-mōsen (非毛氈). The dolls can be gifts from grandparents, or treasured family heirlooms.

Hina Matsuri was one of the very few occasions when little Japanese girls had their own special gatherings. It was customary for them to invite their friends over to parties where they would partake of special sweets and food offered to the dolls. These included hishi-mochi (菱餅), which was a special diamond-shaped, tri-colored rice cake, arare, which are brightly colored bite-sized rice crackers, konpeito (金平糖), which are small colorful candies, and amazake (甘酒), which is a sweet, non-alcoholic version of sake. Chirashi-zushi　(散らし寿司), a dish of sushi rice topped with raw fish and other ingredients, and a special red-colored rice dish called sekihan (赤飯) are often served for the occasion.

Hishi-mochi

 Arare

 Konpeito

 Amazake

 Sekihan

 Chirashi-zushi and clam soup

A peculiar dish served for Hina Matsuri is a soup served with clams in the shell. Clam shells are a romantic Japanese symbol of chastity and love, since only a pair of clam shells from the same clam will ever fit together.

A pair of decorated clam shells; note the emperor and the empress

A Song for Hina Matsuri
The following is a song often sung on Girls Day. If you go to supermarkets and malls, you can hear this song playing in the background.

嬉しいひな祭り

あかりをつけましょ　ぼんぼりに
お花をあげましょ　桃の花
五人ばやしの　笛太鼓
今日はたのしい　ひな祭り

お内裏様と　おひな様
二人ならんで　すまし顔
お嫁にいらした　ねえさまに
よく似た官女の　白い顔

金のびょうぶに　うつる灯を
かすかにゆする　春の風
すこし白酒　めされたか
赤いお顔の　右大臣

着物をきかえて　帯しめて
今日はわたしも　はれ姿
春のやよいの　このよき日
なによりうれしい　ひな祭り

Transliteration:
Ureshii Hina Matsuri
akari wo tsukemasho bonbori ni
ohana wo agemasho momo no hana
gonin bayashi no fue taiko
kyo wa tanoshii hina matsuri

odairi-sama to ohina-sama
futari narande sumashigao
oyome ni irashita neesama ni
yoku nita kanjo to shiroi kao

kin no byobu ni utsuru hi wo
kasuka ni yusuru haru no kaze
sukoshi shirozake mesaretaka
akai okao no udaijin

kimono wo kikaete obishimete
kyo ha watashi mo haresugata
haru no yayoi to kono yoki hi
naniyori ureshii hina matsuri

Translation:
Joyous Girls Day
Let us light the mounted lanterns
Let us offer flowers, peach flowers
The sound of flutes and drums from the 5 musicians
Fun Girls Day is today

The emperor, empress and their retainers
Both of them side-by-side with fixed expressions
The white-faced lady-in-waiting
Looks a lot like older sister on her wedding day

Light shines off the golden folding screen
The spring wind rocks it gently
It looks like he had a little too much shirozake to drink
The red-faced retainer on the right

Dressed in kimono, fastened with obi
I'm looking my finest today
With the Spring of March and today's sunny day
There's never been a more joyful Girls Day

You can hear the song below: