Hina Matsuri

Another traditional Japanese holiday is just around the corner. March 3rd is Hina Matsuri, or Girls Day. The basic idea of the holiday is to bring good fortune to female children (there is a boys day in May) and hopefully bring them good fortune in their lives. The main way Girls Day is celebrated is to put up a a display in the house of a red carped draped over a stair-step stand upon which a set of very expensive, very fancy display dolls are set up. At the top are dolls representing an emperor of many years passed and his empress while the lower stair-steps hold their attendants.

The dolls are very finely crafted and not meant to be played with at all. They are very expensive and it is not uncommon for grandparents to buy a set for a baby girl when she is born (assuming they can afford it). One of (Western) co-workers informed me that in olden days only the rich could afford the dolls, so they would put up displays were the poorer girls in the neighborhood could look in and enjoy them as well. I haven't found any reference to this online, so while colorful, I am suspicious that particular story may not be true.

In any case, one thing my co-worker was very right about was that the little treats that are often displayed along with the dolls are delicious! You can buy packages of crispy little rice balls flavored with sugar, soy sauce, seaweed, squid and others that are chocolate covered. Imagine sweet and salty KiX. I don't really know how tasty that sounds... but they are addictively awesome. Apparently they will be gone after the 3rd, so I'm going to have to stock up.

After the last two posts, I'm starting to get all nostalgic for my first year in Japan. There have been so many surprises. Pretty soon, I'm going to know what to expect... won't that be weird.