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Hinamatsuri: The festival for young girls
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Posted on Mar 04 2006
The Japanese culture is noted for the numerous festivals it observes throughout the year. Last Friday, March 3, was the Hinamatsuri, or Doll’s Festival. This is a day set aside to pray for young girls’ growth and happiness.
The EIC Japanese Language Center at the Nauru Building seized this chance to introduce this aspect of the Japanese culture to its students and guests. EIC’s Tomoko Shimizu said that families with daughters celebrate March 3 by displaying Hina Dolls on a stepped shelf to express their wish for their daughter’s good health and growth.
“We explained about Hinamatsuri and then we made Hina dolls from chirashi-sushi. We also sang the Hinamatsuri-song in Japanese,” said Shimizu. “Our students and a local Japanese family participated in the activity.
Shimizu said that EIC usually holds cultural activities twice a month on Wednesdays, during which they introduce several facets of the Japanese culture such as calligraphy, tea ceremony, etc.
Hinamatsuri is also called “Momo no sekku” (Peach Festival) because of the peach blossom season in the old lunar calendar.
May 5th is “Kodomo no hi” or Children’s Day, and this is also called the “Boy’s Festival.” While Children’s Day is a national holiday, Hinamatsuri is not.
Most families with girls display “hina-ningyo” 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. (PR)
