| 
Hina doll originated from Hinamatsuri |
| “Hinamatsuri (The doll
festival for girls)” which was fixed to be celebrated
on March 3 in the Muromachi period has gradually come to
strengthen the meaning of “the day when a family wishes
for the happiness of the daughter by making some dolls undertake
the lifetime misfortune as the scapegoat for the daughter,” so
that people began to make dolls for “Hinamatsuri” which
played such a role. However, the custom of decorating the
dolls on the occasion of Hinamatsuri” was only the
one that belonged to the Imperial Court society of those
days. |
| Various cultures
had been developed rapidly after the period, during which
Japan had always been at war, ended and turned to the peaceful
Edo Period. And, the cultures of the ancient capital, Kyoto
have been introduced to Edo (Present: Tokyo), and the custom
of decorating Hina dolls has also spread. Moreover, the "Tale
of Genji" which was set in the Imperial Court has become
popular among ordinary people in the Edo Period thanks to
the spread of printing technique. And, reflecting their yearning
toward the aristocratic circles, the people in the Edo Period
began to make gorgeous “Hina dolls” which imitated
the custom of the court of the Heian Period. |
| Among Hina dolls,
Obina, a male doll, represents the emperor and Mebina, a
female doll represents the empress, and their costumes are
also imitated from the custom of the Imperial Court. The
dolls of the three women represent the court ladies who serve
at the Imperial Court. The dolls of the five men represent
the orchestra in ordinary to the Imperial Court. The dolls
of the two elderly men represent the ministers who bear political
affairs, as well as the guards, and the other dolls of the
three men represent the servants. |
In the beginning
of the Edo Period, a set of Hina dolls was made as one of
the trousseaus for daughters of high birth. And, with the
change of the times, Hina dolls had come to be produced more
and more elaborately, and escalated to the gorgeous things.
Hina
dolls had come to be larger in size and more gorgeous so
that the life style of court nobles was expressed in miniatures
exquisitely down to the details of girl’s belongings
such as a dressing table, an ink stone box that stores a
complete set of letter-writing tools, and a set of utensils
for the tea ceremony, with materials and technique similar
to those used to make real things. And the movement was heated
up so much that the Edo Shogunate Government issued a ban
to the custom of Hinamatsuri. |
It was the time during
the years of Tempo (1830 - 1844) in the late Edo Period,
when the original culture of Edo matured, that the custom
of “Hinamatsuri” spread among ordinary people
at last. In those days, the markets of Hina dolls were held
here and there in the city of Edo centering around the Jikkendana
area (around the present Nihonbashi), and the custom of “Hinamatsuri” had
come to spread among ordinary people as well.
There were not only the stores that sold expensive Hina dolls
in those markets of Hina dolls but were also many stores of
which customers were common people, and “Hina dolls,” which
had been the object of yearning for women and children, has
gradually become familiar things to common people, as the life
of the people became rich.
The improvement of the technical capabilities of doll artists
and the appearance of rich merchants was indispensable to support
such consumptions. And, Asakusa Kaya-cho, which was one of
the big markets of Hina dolls in those days, is still thriving
as “Asakusabashi,” the town of dolls. |
| Afterwards, “Hinamatsuri” had
become increasingly popular, and was established as one of
the events for ordinary people. In the Edo Period when the
medical technology was less-developed and the childhood mortality
rate was higher than that of the present age, the pleasure
of parents that their children could greet “Osekku
(a seasonal festival) safely must had been emotionally deeper
beyond all imagination of the modern people. “Hinamatsuri” was
a special day, on which parents entrusted their children's
happiness, and it must had been an exceptional day when women
admired Hina dolls, as a very few ceremonial day for women
in the age when there was few amusement |
And, even today,
the beautiful “Hina dolls” is still the object
of yearning for a lot of Japanese women from children to
adults, without going out of fashion even during the ages
of turmoil, such as the Warring States Period, the Meiji
Restoration, and the World Wars. “Hina dolls” handed
down to prestigious families are so popular that they are
exhibited in museums here and there during the “Hinamatsuri” season.
Especially, in the family with daughters, they spend a happy
time, decorating Hina dolls, the relatives gathering, and celebrating
with peach blossoms, Hina-Arare (cubic rice crackers for Hinamatsuri),
and sweet white sake.
In such a way, “Hinamatsuri” has completely spread
to every region of Japan as one of the national events, and
Hina dolls have been integrated into the life of Japanese people,
as a traditional work of art for many Japanese people even
in the present modern age. |
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