Hinamatsuri: Difference between revisions

{{ForFor2|the manga series|Hinamatsuri (manga)}}

{{Redir|Girls Day|the South Korean girl group|Girl's Day|other uses|Girls' Day (disambiguation)}}

|litcolor =

|significance = A Shinto and Japanese cultural holiday

|begins = Hinamatsuri is celebrated annually on March 3rd

|observances = A religious (Shinto) holiday in Japan

{{transliteration|ja|Hinamatsuri}} is one of the {{nihongo|five seasonal festivals|五節句|[[gosekku]]}} that are held on auspicious dates of the [[ChineseLunisolar calendar]]: the first day of the first month, the third day of the third month, and so on. After the adoption of the [[Gregorian calendar]], these were fixed on [[New Year's Day|1{{nbsp}}January]], 3{{nbsp}}March, [[Tango no sekku|5{{nbsp}}May]], [[Tanabata|7{{nbsp}}July]], and [[Chrysanthemum Day|9{{nbsp}}September]]. The festival was traditionally known as the {{nihongo|Peach Festival|桃の節句|Momo no Sekku}}, as [[peach]] trees typically began to flower around this time.<ref name="nippon.com">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/features/jg00031/ |title="Hinamatsuri": Japan's Doll Festival |date=27 February 2015 |website=Nippon.com |publisher=Nippon Communications Foundation |language=en |access-date=1 March 2018}}</ref> Although this is no longer true since the shift to Gregorian dates, the name remains and peaches are still symbolic of the festival.<ref name="JT">{{Cite news |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/02/25/food/delicious-dishes-that-are-fit-for-a-princess/ |title=Delicious dishes that are fit for a princess |last=Itoh |first=Makiko |date=25 February 2011 |work=[[The Japan Times]] |access-date=1 March 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0447-5763}}</ref>

Families normally ensure that girls and women have a set of the two main dolls before their first Hinamatsuri. The dolls are usually fairly expensive ($1,500 to $2,500 for a five-tier set, depending on quality) and may be handed down from older generations as [[heirloom]]s. The {{transliteration|ja|hinakazari}} spends most of the year in storage, and girls or women and their mothers begin setting up the display a few days before 3{{nbsp}}March (boys and men normally do not participate, as 5{{nbsp}}May, now [[Children's Day (Japan)|Children's Day]], was historically called "Boys' Day").<ref name="stripes">{{Cite web |url=https://okinawa.stripes.com/news/girl-power-hina-matsuri-way |title=Girl power the Hina Matsuri way |last=Nakahara |first=Tetsuo |date=24 February 2016 |website=Stripes Okinawa |publisher=[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]] |language=en |access-date=1 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125162741/https://okinawa.stripes.com/news/girl-power-hina-matsuri-way |archive-date=25 November 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Traditionally, the dolls were supposed to be put away by the day after {{transliteration|ja|Hinamatsuri}}, the [[superstition]] being that leaving the dolls any longer will result in a late marriage for the daughter,<ref name="Aruku">{{cite book|page=36|title=日本事情入門: View of Today's Japan|first=Mizue |last=Sasaki |publisher=Alc|year=1999 |isbn= 4-87234-434-0}}</ref> but some families may leave them up for the entire month of March.<ref name="stripes"/> Practically speaking, the encouragement to put everything away quickly is to avoid the rainy season and humidity that typically follows {{transliteration|ja|Hinamatsuri}}.<ref name="Voyapon" />

Historically, the dolls were used as toys,<ref name="Shoaf" /> but in modern times they are intended for display only.<ref name="stripes"/> The display of dolls is usually discontinued when the girls and women reach ten years of age.<ref name="Shoaf" />

During {{transliteration|ja|Hinamatsuri}} and the preceding days, girls and women hold parties with their friends. Typical foods include {{nihongo3|multi-colored rice crackers|雛あられ|hina-[[arare (food)|arare]]}}, {{nihongo3|raw fish and vegetables on rice in a bowl or {{transliteration|ja|[[bento]]}} box|ちらし寿司|[[Sushi#Chirashizushi|chirashizushi]]}}, {{nihongo3|multi-colored rice cakes|菱餅|[[hishi mochi]]}},<ref name="nippon.com"/> {{nihongo3|strawberries wrapped in [[adzuki bean]] paste|いちご大福|ichigo daifuku}}, {{nihongo||桜餅|[[Sakuramochi]]}} and {{nihongo3|clam soup, as clam shells represent a joined pair|うしお汁|ushiojiru}}.<ref name="JT"/> The customary drink is {{nihongo3|lit. "white sake"|白酒|shirozake}}, also called {{nihongo|lit. "sweet sake"|甘酒|amazake}}, a non-alcoholic [[sake]].<ref name="Ruoo">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KHkyUp-EH2MC&q=hishimochi+shirozake+chirashisushi&pg=PA134|page=134|title=Gift-giving in Japan: cash, connections, cosmologies |first=Katherine |last=Rupp |publisher=Stanford University Press|year=2003 |isbn= 0-8047-4704-0}}</ref><ref name="JT"/>

File:Hinamatsuri store display.jpg|{{transliteration|ja|Hinamatsuri}} store display in [[Seattle, Washington]], featuring all 7 tiers.

# {{nihongo|Flute|笛|[[Fue (flute)|Fue]]}}, or {{nihongo||横笛|Yokobue}}, seated,

# LaughingCrying drinker {{nihongo||笑い泣き上戸|waraijōgonakijōgo}} bearing a {{nihongo|rake|熊手|kumade}},

It is said that the first time Hina dolls were shown in the manner they are now as part of the Peach Festival was when the young [[Empress Meishō|princess Meisho]] succeeded to the throne of her abdicating father, [[Emperor Go-Mizunoo]], in 1629. Because femaleempresses emperorsregnant in Japan at the time were not allowed to get married, Meisho's mother, [[Tokugawa Masako]], created a doll arrangement showing Meisho blissfully wedded.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nagata |first=Hisashi |title=年中行事を「科学」する 暦のなかの文化と知恵 |publisher=日本経済新聞出版 |date=March 14, 1989 |pages=72–73}}</ref> Hinamatsuri then officially became the name of the festival in 1687. Doll-makers began making elaborate dolls for the festival (some growing as tall as {{convert|3|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} high before laws were passed restricting their size). Over time, the ''hinakazari'' evolved to include fifteen dolls and accessories. As dolls became more expensive, tiers were added to the ''hinadan'' so that the expensive ones could be placed out of the reach of young children.<ref name="Shoaf"/>

* [http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa022501a.htm Hinamatsuri (Doll's Festival)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010043530/http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa022501a.htm |date=10 October 2009 }}