It is customary not only for us to congratulate women in early March. On the third day of the third month, the Japanese celebrate the Girls’ Day every year. A beautiful ritual hides deep wisdom. What is this tradition and what deep meaning is it filled with?
The restraint and modesty of the Japanese is compensated by their great love for the holidays. During the year, one celebration smoothly flows into another, changing not only the mood of the residents, but also the decoration of their houses.
On the third day of the third month of the year, Japan celebrates one of the most tender and colorful holidays — the Day of Girls, Peaches and Hinamatsuri Dolls.
What good traditions do the Japanese observe on this day, why is it not customary to play with holiday dolls, and what does peaches have to do with it?
When the peaches bloom
In ancient times, on the «third day of the third moon,» the peasants celebrated the onset of a short rest between major agricultural work. This period coincided with the beginning of peach blossom, and everyone admired the beautiful trees. So there was one of the names of this holiday Momo no sekku — «Peach Blossom Festival».
In East Asian cultures, peach symbolizes protection from evil spirits, so its flowers were used both as a decoration for a home and as a talisman. The Japanese associate peach with the beginning of spring, freshness, as well as female fragility and beauty.
The second name of the holiday is Hina Matsuri — “Hina Doll Festival”. It originated from an ancient ritual performed by priests on this day. Figures-dolls of a “boy” and “girl” were made from paper, all troubles and misfortunes were “transferred” to them by special ceremonies and then thrown into the water, burned or buried.
So the Japanese got rid of evil and filth in order to meet spring clean and renewed. Later, dolls were made from clay. And no longer destroy, but store in the house as a symbol of happiness and health. And during the reign of the eighth shogun of the Tokugawa Yoshimune dynasty, the father of many daughters, the holiday became massive and took shape in the form we already know.
Precious dolls
The most spectacular and beloved custom of the holiday is an exhibition of hina-ningyo dolls. Families with girls set up a special podium covered with red cloth for elegant dolls. The first doll is usually given when a child appears. Over time, the family tries to collect a collection.
This is not easy to do, since the dolls are made by hand and the cost of some copies can exceed a thousand dollars. If there are two or three daughters in the family, then dolls are bought in common, for everyone.
Ningyo dolls embody members of the imperial dynasty and courtiers. The emperor and empress or the prince and the wife-princess are the most important and beautiful in the collection. They are installed at the very top of the stand, placing ladies-in-waiting, musicians and other servants on the lower steps.
At the very bottom, they put decor items, miniature dishes and traditional mochi treats.
The craft of making hina-ningyo dolls is over 400 years old. Craftsmen use more than 150 types of fabric to create luxurious outfits, depict certain facial features with subtle emotion, make a unique turn and tilt of the head, so no doll is like another.
A separate art is the manufacture of miniature accessories: fans, hats, musical instruments, pieces of furniture, as well as styling the traditional hairstyles of noble people.
Festive subtleties
In Western and Eastern Japan, the arrangement of puppets is fundamentally different. In the former capital, Kyoto, and the surrounding Kansai region, traditionalism is adhered to, so the left side is considered higher in status than the right. Accordingly, the puppet of the Emperor or Prince is placed exclusively on the left.
But in progressive Tokyo and the Kanto region, strict canons are violated and dolls are placed in the manner of European court etiquette, borrowed in the first half of the XNUMXth century: that is, a princess doll can be placed on the left side of the podium-stand.
Dolls are not pleasant to play with as they are considered heirlooms. Girls in festive kimonos visit each other, admire doll exhibitions, take pictures against their background and eat sweets.
The holiday becomes especially symbolic for girls at the age of seven, when they first put on a furisode long-sleeve kimono and change a soft children’s bow belt for an adult obi. This marks a certain stage in the maturation of the future woman.
A month after the end of the holiday, the dolls are carefully removed until the next Hinamatsuri. It is believed that if they are exhibited for too long, it will be difficult for a girl to marry.