ひな祭り

Last weekend I learned all about the special girls holiday in Japan called Hinamatsuri. It is a time dedicated to celebrating young girls and pray for their growth and future marriage. Only families that have daughters celebrate this holiday, and luckily I was invited to the houses of a couple people I work with to see how this holiday is celebrated.

On Friday night, I was invited to dinner with a family who lives in my village. We ate temaki, which means hand-rolled sushi. The ingredients are set out on the table and everyone makes their own rolls at the table. There were sheets of nori and rice which we topped with our choice of cucumber, tamagoyaki (egg), crab, or pork. They also served deep fried chumai (Chinese dumplings) and fish cakes, pickled daikon, and another pickled salad. It was all delicious and handmade. I love eating with Japanese families because I learn more about what foods to serve together every time, plus it is always delicious!

After dinner, the mom, eleven year old daughter and I set up the doll stand together.First we set up the black lacquer shelf, then carefully placed the dolls and decorations on it. We had to wear white cloth glove so that our fingerprints would not soil anything, and the decorations are placed on the shelf in a certain order. They even have a little book to guide you through which decorations go where on the stand! While we set it up they explained to me the meaning of some of the decorations. Each decoration and each doll has its own significance.

Setting up the stand was kinda like setting up a Christmas tree in America. It's a special decoration that represents the holiday and the whole family gets involved (well the girls and dad at least!) to set it up. Apparently in May, for Children's day the decorations are changed so the boys are included then as well.

On Saturday, I went to lunch at my supervisor's house. He has a daughter that I teach in junior high school, so they had a Hinamatsuri lunch to celebrate. Lunch was spectacular and they served all the traditional Hinamatsuri foods. First we had green tea and a cherry blossom flavored mochi treat with anko (sweet red bean paste) inside, the leaf on the outside is a cherry blossom leaf. The sakura had a sweet, spicy flavor somewhat like cinnamon, with a hint of salt taste.

For lunch our main dish was chirashi zushi, which is a popular family food since it is delicious and easy to make for several people. It is sushi rice with toppings of mushrooms, shrimps, etc. as well as tamagoyaki and nori sprinkled on top. We also had a salad topped with shrimp, clam soup, Japanese style spaghetti, pickles, sashimi, and pan fried beef.

While sitting around the table talking, we had after lunch snacks called hinaare. These are puffed rice treats, very similiar to rice krispie treats except that they are not soft. This is another traditional Hinamatsuri treat.

The doll stand at their house is a full seven tiered stand and is 45 years old. This stand is the one that the mom grew up with. Apparently you are not supposed to reuse Hinamatsuri dolls for the next generation of girls because it is bad luck for their marriage! So when their daughter was born her grandparents bought her a small display of doll's, and they display both every year. 

Hinamatsuri displays represent a wedding party. The top tier is home to the prince and princess, who represent are wedding couple. The second shelf hosts the three chambermaids, as well as mochi on little stands. I was told the red and white mochi represent the sun and the moon. The next shelf carries the five musicians. After that there is a row with two politicians and diamond shaped mochi displays in between them. One politician is young and the other is old, so they represent the passing of time. The diamond shaped mochi are green, white, and pink so they represent grass, snow, and cherry blossoms respectively. I do not remember who the people on the next shelf are, but each doll has a significant expression- one is angry, one is sad, and one is happy. So they represent different emotions. The bottom two shelves are with mini household/wedding objects such as sake servers and cups and bridal wardrobe boxes.

On Sunday, I went to Nanao to meet a friend to go shopping, but before we left we went to her town's annual Hinamatsuri display. They had many very old dolls borrowed from local families to use in different displays showing so many different artistic styles.  Trying to read the signs around them I concluded that many of the dolls are actually from the early 1900s. I even saw some in a glass case reported to be from 1911!

I thought this squat style of doll is very cute

Dolls from 1911

Several little girls dressed up in kimono to sing the Hinamatsuri song

The Grand Display- reportedly a hundred dolls on display!

On Monday, February 3rd- the day of Hinamatsuri- at school we ate chirashi zushi for lunch, as predicted by the teacher I ate dinner with on Friday night. All across Japan, every school serves chirashi zushi for lunch every year on Hinamatsuri! See below for a link to listen to the Hinamatsuri traditional folk song!