Hina Matsuri

Monday, March 3rd was the Doll Festival (Hina Matsuri), also called Girl’s day. This is a day when families throughout Japan display dolls that are dressed in traditional Japanese court dress in their houses and offer them sweets. The dolls come in many different types, and in some instances are arranged on multi-tiered structures, with an emperor and empress doll on the top with trays in front of them, lanterns on either side and attendants in order of rank descending downward. My own host family chooses to put their dolls up in April when it’s a little warmer and more fitting for the spring feeling that the holiday is meant to invoke. For this holiday there were several events and exhibits all over the city, one of which was going to be at a temple not far from my house. Hokyoji temple was to have a display of dolls from different periods of Japanese history, and on the first there was going to be a dance by a Tayuu from the Kyoto Shimabara district. Perhaps I have mentioned this before, but a Tayuu is an Edo era courtesan of the highest rank. A long time ago there ceased to be Tayuu in any actual sense, but in Shimabara there is one house that still has a couple women who train in the dances, songs, and general culture specific to the Tayuu. They are far rarer than geisha, and so when I read in my program director’s note that there was going to be one not far from my house I made sure to get myself over there. Unfortunately, there was no time listed in the note, and my guess at a reasonable time for it to happen was a couple hours too late, so I missed her completely. At least I got in to see the dolls, many of which were from the Meiji period (late 19th century) or before, and the weather was nice enough that I didn’t dislike the walk to get there.
-According to one of the host mothers, if someone’s daughter is getting married soon the family will put out there dolls for Hina Matsuri early.
-The positioning of the Emperor and Empress dolls in relation to one another is different in Tokyo.
-I seem to always be asleep when things are happening.