THE
FESTIVALS OF SHINTO
Chapter 4: Hina Matsuri
“Girls’ Day”
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In the week preceding March 3rd, Hina Matsuri or Girls’ Day, millions
of royal “doll families” will be hauled from closets and shelves, dusted
off and set up in places of honor. A rather ornate seven or eight tiered
stand will first be erected and then the 15 clothed dolls, dressed in Heian
period opulence, will be carefully arranged on it in a prescribed manner.
The most important personages sit like the royalty they are on the
top tier. They are the prince and princess, Odairi-sama and Ohina-sama.
When all the dolls are displayed and the last detail has been carefully
adjusted, then the girls, maidens and mothers of Japan will sit back and
enjoy with pride this beautiful set of mystical dolls, their hina ningyo. |
Hina Ningyo.
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Hina Ningyo.
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Long ago, dolls
were serious magic in Japan, and though the once-powerful symbols and rituals
have often lost their deep meaning, they still continue and often evoke
strong feelings. Girls' Day is an obviously ancient festival that originally
came from China many centuries ago. It honors girls and young women and
was probably once a strong ritual to magically encourage their health,
beauty, marriage and prosperity. Today it is not so serious, but the hopes
and joys are much the same. It is one of the “Five Great Festivals,” all
of which came from China. These are January 1st (New Years Day), March
3rd (Girls’ Day), May 5th (Boys’ Day), July 7th (Star Festival) and September
9th (Harvest Festival). All of these, except the last one, are still quite
important in Japan.
| Girls’ Day occurs
in the beginning of spring, this may explain some of the ideas and symbolism
associated with it. Hina actually means “a chick,” a baby bird.
The hina ningyo or doll set depicts an entire royal entourage, though it
may also have originally represented ancient gods of domestic happiness
as is still the case with the “King and Queen of Heaven” in China. Another
symbol that is associated with this holiday is the peach blossom and tree. |
Gifts and special candles.
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| Branches
in bloom are often displayed in the home at this time, a custom that probably
also originated in China where peaches, peach trees and peach blossoms
are all symbols of feminine fertility and power. Another thing that is
displayed, almost as a kind of offering on the bottom tier of the hina
ningyo, is a diamond-shaped mochi rice-cake that has three layers of color,
pink, white and green. Some say that this also alludes to the peach; the
pink being the fruit, the white being the flower and the green being the
leaves. |
Hina Ningyo and
girl's first Hina Matsuri.
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Little girls
who delight in the festivities of Hina Matsuri are often royally dressed
in beautiful kimono. They and their families also treat themselves to special
Girls’ Day delicacies at this time. Shirozake, a kind of sweet unrefined
sake is sipped by all and hina arare, a sweetened and colored puffed-rice
confection is enjoyed. Sometimes hamaguri-no-osuimono, a kind
of clear clam soup, is served at dinner and sakura mochi, a pink
mochi sweet that is filled with red bean paste and wrapped in a cherry
leaf, is eaten for desert. Amacha, a sweet brown tea, is also served
during the festival. One particular food that is served for Hina Matsuri
that is considered very lucky is steamed rice with red beans on top. The
colors, red and white are always seen at festivals in Japan and are considered
especially auspicious. |
| This
festival is obviously centered around girls and dolls and at this time
an interesting pair of dolls is often made by girls out of beautiful paper
using origami. These nagashi bina dolls, again “prince and
princess,” are then placed on a paper boat and sent sailing off into a
stream, along with prayers for luck, health and happiness. |
Old Style Hina Ningyo to be
floated down the Sumida River.
Wishes and hina ningyo float away.
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| As girls grow
into adults, the hina ningyo may be seen less and less, though it is common
for young women to still keep displaying just the “prince and princess"
– Odairi-sama (Great Royal Household Honored One) and Ohina-sama
(Great Young Bird Honored One). If these women get married and have daughters,
then they will begin the cycle all over again, showing them how to set
up the hina ningyo, enjoy it and honor it. If they have no daughters, it
is traditional for them to give the doll set to a relative who does or
to one of several shrines that traditionally accept them. |
Girl ready to float her wish dolls
on the Sumida River.
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An interesting
final note on Hina Matsuri is that the dolls are set up about a week before
the actual day but, they are quickly put away at the end of the day on
March 3rd. If this is done with speed, so legend tells us, the girls will
also get married quickly! |
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