MANY JAPANESE as well as foreigners might be surprised to learn that the story of the Hina Festival, Japan's major festival for girls, is a relatively recent one. The name of this festival probably comes from hiina, a He ian period game that used dolls, doll houses, and models to
mimic court life. Although the game had no direct relation to the present-day hina matsuri, the word hina came to be used for describing paper dolls and later became associated with the Doll Festival, supposedly in the Edo period. The festival seems to have become firmly established by about the mid-seventeenth century. Two or three paper dolls were placed in the tokonoma together with rice cakes and other special foods. During the Edo period the doll collections became more and more elaborate, evolving into displays that had three, five, and finally seven steps and that were more than a meter high. Standing dolls gave way to sitting dolls mounted on wooden bases, and paper dolls were replaced by elaborately clothed dolls with ceramic heads and hands. During the Meiji era the number of dolls continued to increase, although many of the new characters had little relation to the original Hina Festival. In the 1920s department stores began selling the dolls in complete sets. Today the prices of these sets range from $500 to $5,000 and more. Prices are determined by the size of the dolls, the quality of the clothing, whether the dolls are ceramic or plastic, and by the fame of the dollmaker. The sets are handed down from mother to daughter or are presented to a newly born girl by the mother's parents. After World War II sets of two dolls in glass cases became popular, perhaps due to space limitations. On a display of seven steps that have been draped with a piece of red cloth, one might see the following collection: On the top step there may be a doll house resembling a palace, but more often there is a folding golden screen decorated with paintings of pine, plum, or bamboo. In front of this sit dolls representing the emperor, dressed in dark clothes, and the empress, in a red, twelve-layer kimono. On the second step are three court ladies. Below these there is a five-member band composed of a singer, three drum-players, and a flute player. On the fourth step may be two guards as well as rice cakes in colored layers of pink, white, and green; and on the fifth, attendants carrying slippers and umbrellas. On the sixth step may be various pieces of furniture. Finally, at the bottom, may be a model of a carriage or a palanquin and miniature models of flowering cherry or orange trees. The scene calls to mind a banquet or wedding celebration, and the furniture and carriage suggest the dowry of a girl marrying into a noble family. While each individual piece is quite beautiful, the total effect may appear rather cluttered. But it is a reflection of the manner in which the individual pieces have been added to the display over a period of time. Doll displays are set up about a week before the March 3 festival, and children take great pleasure in assembling the dolls, putting on headpieces or placing instruments in the dolls' hands. When the child is still too young to do it, the mother sets up the doll collection, and she may have her hands full keeping the children from disturbing the display and damaging the dolls. The dolls are there to be admired but not to be played with; they are not toys. Following the festival, the dolls are promptly put away, since leaving them out too long is said to result in delaying the girl's future marriage.
1 hina-ningyo: doll set 13 yamato-ningyo: doll of powdered wood
2 dairi-bina: royal couple dolls 14gosho-ningyo: court do ll
3 sannin-kanjo: ladies- in -waiting 15kimekomi-ningyo: wooden doll with cloth
4 gonin-bayashi: court band kimono
5 nagashi-bina: paper dolls 16Takasago : Noh play dolls
6 gogatsu-ningyo: Boy's Day dolls 17uba: old woman in N oh plays
7 nobori: banner 18 jo: old man in N oh plays
8 kabuto-ningyo: samurai doll 19 kokeshi: wooden doll
9 Shoki: C hi nese mythical h ero doll 20 maneki-neko: lucky beckoning cat
10 Momotaro: fairy tale h ero doll 21 hariko-no-tora: papier-mache tiger
11 Kin taro: boy warrior doll 22 daruma: papier-mache Bodh idharma
12 fuji-musume : wisteria-girl do ll 23 shishi-gashira: lion-dance head
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