3rd March is the festival of Hinamatsuri - The Doll Festival. Where you celebrate for the good health and prospects of the girls. Most of the family will have their set of dolls decorated to celebrate. Because I love dolls so much, this is one of the festivals that I love in japan.
But in late years (maybe 10-20 years), due to the less number of children, grandpas & grandmas love their grandchild so much that they buy a whole new set for them. But a good set of Hina dolls really can cost a fortune. So, as far as I've seen, mostly you only get the main tier... What's the main tier?? → For the most traditional set, you will have 7 tiers!! Here it is:
The 1st tier: The Emperor (お内裏様 Odairi-sama) & The Empress (お雛様 Ohina-sama)
The 2nd tier: Three court ladies (三人官女 San nin kanjo),
one will have no eye browns and with black teeth!!
to show that she is married or the eldest court lady
that will never get married!!) Besides the ladies,
there is also little table-top stands for you to
put in the seasonal sweets.
The 3rd tier: Five male musicians (五人囃子 Gonin bayashi)
as same the japanese 'Noh'
The small drum (太鼓 taiko)
The large drum (大鼓 Otsuzumi)
The hand drum (小鼓 Kotsuzumi)
The flute (笛 Fue)
The singer that holds a fan (謡い方 Utaikata)
The 4th tier: Two ministers, the left minister (左大臣 Sadaijin) &
the right minister (右大臣Udaijin) In between,
there will be small tables to put seasonal sweets again.
The 5th tier: A mandarin orange tree on the right and a cherry tree
on the left. Where 3 helpers will be in the middle.
The 6th & 7th tier: Furnitures, carriages etc.
So the main tier will be the Emperor & Empress. Mostly, you will either have the main tier, 3 tiers, 5 tiers or the whole set. You don't get them in 2 tiers or 4 tiers!! Some family only shows the main tier even if they have the whole set, because of all the trouble to take them out and pack them in again!!
You usually start decorating them around a month before the 3rd March. However, it is known to pack them in soon after the 3rd, or else the girl it represents will get married in a late years!! Some sayings even say that if the girl gets married, you don't take out the dolls to decorate anymore!! But like my mother-in-law, she still takes them out every year so as to give them some air and refresh their spirit. This year, due to we have a new baby girl from my sister-in-law, the dolls have been passed to her bringing her good health and prospects!!
1 comment:
It is quite a lot of work to put up all those tiers of dolls and decorations! It is nice that the family will go through all that effort to ensure a happy life for a girl.
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