Sunday, January 27, 2013

Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival)

Some of you who really like to read Manga might be know about this Japanese Festival. It sometimes mentioned in Conan Meitantei Manga. It is just one of Japanese Festivals which have been impressed me. That's why tonight I want to make post about this Festival :) References for this post is coming from Wikipedia and a book with tittle Mengerti Bahasa dan Budaya Jepang which is wrote by Takayuki Inohana and Edizal, then for pictures are taken from Google.

Seven-tiered Hina doll set


Hinamatsuri is usually called as Doll Festival Hinamatsun or Girls' Day. It usually held on 3rd March. In order to celebrate this festival, usually the Japanese girls displaying a set of ornamental dolls whereas the Platforms is covered with a red carpet. That dolls represent the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian Period. The custom of displaying these dolls began during the Heian period. Formerly people believed that the dolls possessed by the power to contain the bad spirits. Families generally start to display the dolls in February and take them down immediately after the festival, that is because there superstition that says leaving the dolls past March 4 will result in a late marriage for the daughter. Hinamatsuri traces origins to
an ancient Japanese custom called hinanagashi (doll floating), in which straw hina dolls are set float on a boat and sent down a river to the sea, which is supposedly taking troubles or bad spirits with them. People have stopped doing this (floating a set of dolls) now because of fisherman catching the dolls in their nets. They now send them out to sea and when the spectators are gone they take the boats out of the water and bring them back to the temple and burn them.

In order to celebrate this festival, there are some customary beverages and foods for the festival such as shirozake (sake which made from fermented rice), hishimochi (Japanese sweet in shape and typically formed from three layers of red (pink), white, and green mochi from top to bottom), chirashizushi (sushi rice flavored with sugar, vinegar, topped with raw fish and a variety of ingredients), and ushiojiru (soup which contains of claims which is still in the shell).

In display the dolls, there's certain placement rules. The Kanto and Kansai region have different placement orders of the dolls from left to the right, but order of dolls per level are the same. The term for the platform in Japanese is hina dan. The layer of covering is called dankake or simply hi-mosen, then a red carpet with rainbow stripes at the bottom. 

First Platform, the Top
The top tier holds two dolls, known as imperial dolls (dairi-bina). These are the Emperor (Odari-sama) holding a ritual baton (shaku) and Empress (Ohime-sama) holding a fan. The words dairi means "girl" or "princess". The dolls are usually placed in front of gold folding a screen byobu and placed beside green Japanese garden tress. Optional are the two lampstands, called bonbori , and the paper silk lanterns that are known as hibukuro which are usually decorated with cherry or ume blossom patterns. Then complete sets would include accessories which is placed between the two figures that known as sanbo kazari, composing of two vases of artificial peach branch kuchibana. The traditional arrangement had the male on the right, while modern arrangement had him on the left (from the viewer's perspective).

Second Platform
The second tier holds three court ladies san-nin kano. Each holds sake equipment. From the viewer's perspective, the standing lady on the right is the long handled sake bearer Nagae no choshi, the standing lady on the left is the backup sake-bearer Kuwae no choshi, and the only lady in the middle is the setaed sake bearer Sanpo. Accessories placed between the ladies are takatsuki, stands with round table-tops for seasonal sweets, excluding hishimochi.

Third Paltform
The tier holds five male musicians gonin bayashi. Each holds a musical instrument except the singer, who holds a fan.
Left to the right (from the viewer's perpective) they are:
1. Small drum Taiko, seated
2. Large drum Otsuzumi, standing
3. Hand drum Kotsuzumi, standing
4. Flute Fue, or Yokobue, setaed
5. Singer Utaikata, holding a folding fan sensu, standing.

Forth Platform
Two ministers (daijin) may be displayed on the fourth tier- The Minister of the Right (Udaijin) and the Minister of the left (Sadaijin). The Minister of the right is depicted as a young person, while the Minister of the  left is much older. The Minister of the Right will be on the viewer's left and the Minister of Left will be on the viewer's right. Both are sometimes equipped with bows and arrows.
Between thee two figures are covered bowl tables kakebanzen, also referred to as o-zen, as well as diamong shaped hishidai bearing diamond shaped ricecakes hishimochi. Hishidai with feline-shaped legs are known as nekoashigata hishidai. Just below the ministers: on the rightmost, a mandarin orange tree Ukon no tachibana, and on the leftmost, a cherry blossom tree Sakon no sakura.

Fifth Platform
The fifth tier, between the plants, hold three helpers or samurai as the protector of the Emperor and Empress. From left to right (viewer's perpective):
1. Maudlin drinker nakijogo
2. Cantankerous drinker okorijogo
3. Merry drinker waraijogo

Other Platforms
On the sixth and seventh tiers, a variety of miniature furniture, tools, carriages, etc, are displayed.

Sixth Platform
These are items used within palatial residence.
  • Tansu: chest of (usually five) drawer, sometimes with swinging outer covering doors.
  • Nagamochi: long chest for kimono storage
  • Hasamibako: smaller clothing storage box, placed on top of nagamochi.
  • Kyodai: literaly mirror stand, a smaller chest of drawer with a mirror on top.
  • Haribako: sewing kit box
  • Two hibachi: braziers
  • Daisu: a set of ocha dogu or cha no yu dogu
Seventh Platform, the bottom
These are the items which is used when away from the palatial residence
  • Jubako: a set of nested lacquered food bozes with either a cord tied vertically around the boxes or a stiff handle that locks them together.
  • Gokago: a palanquin
  • Goshoguruma: an ox drawn carriage favored by Heian nobility. This last is sometimes known as gisha or gyuusha.
  • Less common, hanaguruma: an ox drawing a cart of flowers.






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