Zakka 81: Hinamatsuri

Monday, March 2, 2009

Hinamatsuri

*Japanese Annual Event*
"Hinamatsuri (Girl's Festival, Doll's Festival)" is held on March 3rd. This is a day to pray for young girl's growth and happiness. It is also called "Momo no sekku (Peach Festival)" because of the peach blossom season on the old lunar calendar. May 5th is "Kodomo no hi (Children's Day)," and this is so called "Boy's Festival." While Children's Day is a national holiday, Hinamatsuri is not.

Most families with girls display "hina-ningyo" (special dolls for Hinamatsuri) and dedicate peach blossoms to them. They are usually arranged on a five or seven-tiered stand covered with a red carpet. At the top are the Emperor and Empress. The next step contains three court ladies (sannin-kanjo), followed by five musicians (gonin-bayashi), two ministers (udaijin and sadaijin), and three servants ending the bottom row in a five-tiered display. There are also small pieces of furniture, small meal dishes, and other things.

2 comments:

  1. How lovely to have a day dedicated to girls!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It it a big day for the girls! Some girls wear Kimono and drink some very very sweet white sake(alcohol) with special food!!
    We said that you can't marry if the doll is not put away after the day!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...