Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Hinamatsuri

☆Happy Girl's Day☆
良いひな祭りを過ごしてください
ﾟ･:*Ψ:*:･ﾟ（＾-＾）　川＾‐＾川 ﾟ･:*Ψ:*:･ﾟ
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2 comments:

Eka said...

Before I greet you Happy Girl's Day, too. I would like to ask what is Hinamatsuri all about? :) Also, I haven't thanked you yet for taking the time to comment on my last blog entry. Japan is "quite" lucky because your currency, as you've said, is getting stronger. I hope the economy will be bullish towards the coming quarters. どうも ありがとうございました.

4 March 2009 at 18:46
En said...

Thank you for commenting! The strong yen has been great for travel but a lot of companies are suffering now.

It's kind of difficult to explain the purpose of girl's day since the origins are murky. Today, it's basically a day of celebration for young girls. All (or most) Japanese girls have their own set of hina-dolls or a set passed down from their mothers, which consist of a Heian emperor and empress, attendants, muscians and other servants. The hina dolls are set up at home before Hinamasturi and have to be put away by March 3rd, actual Girl's day, or else the daughter in the family will have trouble getting married. There are sugar sweets and rice crackers colored in white, pink, and light/neon green, which are soem of the main colors for Girl's day. Chirashi-zushi is also eaten and there's a sweet, non-alcoholic sake that even children can drink. Everything, from the dolls to the food, is very colorful.

The Engilsh Wikipedia page has a detailed description of the dolls:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri
But the Japanese Wiki page has a better picture of the dolls:
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9B%9B%E7%A5%AD%E3%82%8A
And if you're interested, there's a place that has a monster hinamatsuri set on display every year: http://kounosubina.main.jp/2009/2009-keisu.html

(Boy's day is on the 5th of May but it's now become Children's day.)

4 March 2009 at 21:47

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