Tag: Hinamatsuri

The Final Hinamatsuri, Girls Day

The day is finally upon us: my firstborn, my daughter, is now an adult and looking toward college. Ever since she was a tiny baby, we have celebrated the Japanese festival of Girls Day or Hinamatsuri (ひな祭り) yearly on March 3rd. Her grandparents (my in-laws) brought this doll set from Japan 18 years ago.1 I did my research and figured out how to assemble it, and have been doing it every year since.

My daughter is an adult this year, and so she isn’t really a little girl anymore. Thus, in a sense the tradition comes to and end. We discussed it, and we will probably keep celebrating anyway until she is married,2 but it still feels like a threshold has been crossed.

Of course, it all feels a little bittersweet. Our daughter is happy, healthy and looking forward to the next chapter in her life. We, her parents, of course will miss her. And we’re looking forward to grandkids someday.

Perhaps in time I will be assembling the dolls for a future granddaughter, and my wife will keep making chirashi-zushi. Time will tell.

As for all the other ladies out there, happy Girls Day!! 🎎

1 Normally, the doll set has up to 5 tiers, but as two elderly grandparents they could only bring the top tier and since they were only bringing one tier anyway, they splurged and got a nice set from Kyoto. Or, so I recall.

2 in those days girls married far younger than they do now, so people probably didn’t celebrate this far along.

Girls Day Bento

The Japanese festival of Hinamatsuri or Girl’s Day is almost here and I recently dug up this old photo I found. My wife used to make bento lunches for our daughter when she was a little girl and this one was themed for Girls Day. 🥰

Compare with the real doll display here:

The traditional Hinamatsuri set depicts a prince in traditional clothing of the era, wielding a flat shaku wooden scepter, while the bride is wearing the jūnihitoe style of kimono robes associated with noblewomen at the time, and holding a fan.

Around the dolls are various auspicious symbols: orange tree for long life, stacked mochi rice cakes for wealth, etc.

It’s a lot of fun to setup and Girl’a Day is always a fun holiday to look forward to in our home, even if my “little girl” is now almost in high school. 😭

Getting Ready for Girls Day

Girls Day in Japan, better known as hinamatsuri (雛祭り) is the third of 5 sekku (節句) or seasonal holidays in the traditional calendar, but it used to be called momo no sekku (桃の節句) or Peach Day, Peach Festival, etc. In the old lunar calendar, it fell every year on the 3rd day of the 3rd month, which then became March 3rd in the modern era. The biggest tradition by far is to put together a special doll set as soon after Setsubun as possible. My wife’s parents brought a nice doll set from Kyoto when our daughter was a baby and every year in February, I bring it out and assemble it:

This is what is looks like when assembled:

The display shows the prince (o-dairi-sama お内裏さま) wedding his bride¹ in traditional style all the way back to the golden era of the Heian Period. Normally such displays can get very elaborate with multiple tiers on them representing the prince’s entourage:

ist_di_cultura_giapponese_-_altare_della_festa_delle_bambole_p1100919
Picture taken by Lalupa, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

My wife’s parents couldn’t bring over a full doll-set, so we just setup the top tier. However, in my visits to Japan, I have sometimes seen the extended family setup displays similar to this one above. It’s a nice father-daughter activity too.  My kindergarten-aged son also likes to help out.

Girls Day and these doll displays are a way of praying for the well-being of the daughters in the family, which traditionally meant starting a new family, prosperity, happiness.  It might seem a bit old-fashioned in the 21st century, but even in this modern era, parents still hope for their daughters’ happiness and well-being and it’s a chance for young ladies to be a princess for a day.  🥰  My wife always makes a nice dinner for our daughter using sashimi and other nice treats.  I’ll post more on that later.

P.S.  The emoji 🎎 is actually from Hinamatsuri, though few outside Japan would normally recognize this.

¹ Notice the bride is also wearing many layers of kimono robes.  This style, called jūni-hito-é (十二単) or “twelve layers”, was a gorgeous style worn by noblewomen and their ladies in waiting during the Heian Period, and even used these days in very, very limited situations such as those presided by the Imperial Family.  Suffice to say the twelve-layers were very heavy and required help to get in and out of.  Lady Murasaki was one such celebrity (herself a lady in waiting) who wore jūnihitoe during formal occasions.

Girls Day is Nigh

My son made this in Japanese preschool yesterday. This is the prince and bride depicted in the Japanese holiday of hinamatsuri (ひな祭り) or Girls Day. Girls Day happens every year on March 3rd.

We have the doll display setup already, and my wife is preparing a nice sashimi feast for my daughter. Looking forward to the weekend! 🙂