Tomorrow is hina matsuri, the doll or girl festival. Traditionally, it was meant as a purification rite / blessing for girls, and to this day, there are religious ceremonies in many shrines in the country.
During the Edo period, the custom of setting up so-called hinadan with dolls in homes with girls started – ideally, one for each girl. The most elaborate hinadan have seven tiers, starting at the top with a pair of dairi-bina, which are accompanied on lower tiers by ladies-in-waiting, musicians, guards, and gardeners. Other tiers showcase miniature household goods that a young lady of means could not do without.
Growing up in a small house with lots of stuff that I wasn’t allowed to touch, I don’t usually put up seasonal decorations. However, there is something about hina matsuri that makes me give in, and I bought a very modern dairi-bina pair a few years ago. And then, last year, a friend of mine gave me a super cute pair of dairi-bina in the shapes of my zodiac animal, so…
