TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Where are all the REAL PEACH BLOSSOMS (momo no hana, 桃の花) around the time of the PEACH FESTIVAL (momo no sekku, 桃の節句)- another name for the Hina Doll Festival
4 March, 2021
Multi-tiered hina doll sets always feature a little model of a peach tree in bloom – in celebration of the season. The only problem is that peach trees don`t bloom in early March.
By Avi Landau
On March 3rd, right in the very heart of the PLUM BLOSSOM season, we celebrate the Hina Matsuri (the Girls’ Day Hina Doll Festival), otherwise known as MOMO NO SEKKU (桃の節句), the PEACH FESTIVAL. And though you might recognize the purple petalled little peach tree replicas in the full Hina Doll sets, you might wonder where the REAL peach blossoms can be seen today. The answer is… that, outdoors, you can’t! (Practitioners of Ikebana flower arrangement, however, can get special blooming peach branches at flower shops). For the
Hina Doll motifed cakes for the occasion!
The Hina Dolls are taken out and displayed in February, though there seems to be no consensus on exactly when it is best to do so. Some people do it right after Setsubun in the first week of the month, or on any other auspicious date after that. It depends on the family.
In this way, Japanese families can enjoy these sublimely beautiful seasonal decorations for a few weeks or days before March third, the day of the festival itself, on which it is commonly believed that the dolls must be put away. According to tradition, if the dolls are not packed in their boxes on the 3rd, the daughters of the house will have trouble getting married.
TsukuBlog
A Closer Look at the Evolution of Japan`s HINA DOLLS and the Hina Matsuri Festival
17 February, 2021
Antique Hina Dolls (dating from the late Edo Period) on display in Makabe, near Tsukuba
In the Kansai Region (Kyoto, Osaka, etc.) the male is on the left and the female on the right- this is the traditional way. In the Kanto Area (in which Tokyo and Tsukuba are located) the Male is on the right- the position the Japanese Emperor took after moving to Tokyo from Kyoto (and following European custom)
Characteristic damage from the “after-shock” earthquake of February 15th 2021 – the toppling over of the Hina Doll sets which had just been painstakingly set up for display
TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
All Doors are Open, as the Old Town of Makabe gets DOLLED UP for its annual HINA DOLL FESTIVAL (真壁の雛祭り) -until March 3rd
7 February, 2020
Nearly one hundred of the old houses and shops (including this deliciously rustic book store) will be open to the public with antique Hina Dolls and other heirlooms on display as part of the Hina Matsuri Festival in Makabe, Sakuragawa City ( just north of Tsukuba)- till March 3rd
A pair of antique Hina Dolls (from the 19th century) on display at an old shop which in makabe
By Avi Landau
It is customary for Japanese families with daughters to pack up and put away the Hina Doll sets they had been displaying for the March 3rd Doll festival on the VERY NEXT DAY after the festival (March 4th). You might notice how in a strangely similar fashion most of the Santa-Sans and other X-Mas decorations which could be seen around Tsukuba leading up to Christmas Day will have been whisked out of sight by the end of December 26th, as most Tsukubans ( and Japanese in general) start getting down to the very serious business of preparing for O-Shogatsu, the Japanese New Year’s festival.