The art of Hina Ningyo
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"It is something very special because it is going to be protection for my granddaughter. So selecting the dolls is a very important thing for me".
In Japan, sometimes it is a good idea to go and check out what your neighbours are up to. Mitsuko Ando is the third generation to make Bonbori lights or lanterns for the formal display of Hina dolls.
Here in Gifu, Mitsuko Ando is the third generation to make Bonbori lights or lanterns for the formal display of Hina dolls. These lights are in great demand.
Mitsuko’s eldest son is also involved in the family business and the art of making Bonbori lights, so that makes four generations. The manufacture of the lights came first but then Mitsuko’s grandmother started selling Hina dolls about 60 years ago following a request from the craftsmen making the dolls in Nagoya and beyond. We sell our lights to Hina makers as far as Hokkaido and Kyushu.
There is a great collaboration between the different crafts people making the Hina Ningyo so there is a real doll making supply chain going on.
So we sit and have a chat to Mitsuko, we are in the restored loft of a traditional storage house, which was built about 100 years ago. Mitsuko tells us that there are seven tiers of Hina dolls and furnishings in a full set of Hina Ningyo. The Royal couple sit on the top tier, then the ladies in waiting, the musicians and government ministers and household servants.
The Hina Ningyo will also include furniture, a chest of draws, vanities, sewing baskets and a tea set. The Bonbori lights are a feature of the display and there are different light designs.
For Kyoto style (Kyoto is an important centre for the art of Hina making) the opposite layout is observed, the Emperor sits to the right of the display and the Empress sits on the left side. The faces of the Kyoto style dolls may be more formal than some of the more lightly observed faces of other regions.
A great deal of effort goes into choosing a Hina doll set and this is complicated by the vast array of choices of the Hina Ningyo.
Today we meet a grandmother, her daughter and granddaughter as she prepares to purchase a set. Like many things in Japan this matter is taken very seriously and the dolls can be very expensive. Space is also a consideration for many so the Hina dolls are displayed around the time of the dolls festival.
The grandmother tells us that it is wonderful that three generations can come to the doll shop to choose the most appropriate Hina Ningyo. It is something very special because it is going to be protection for my granddaughter. So selecting the dolls is a very important thing for me. We will take time in the selection because the set we choose will be the only one for that particular child.
Japan is a land that blooms with traditions and it blooms with festivals. The first seasonal festival or Sekku following the birth of a baby girl is called Hatsu-Zekku and tradition has it that the doll’s festival or Hina Matsuri is on this day (Joshi no Sekku). In ancient Chinese custom our third day of March was the first serpent (shi) day.In contemporary Japan the Peach Festival or Momo no Sekku, a time when the peach flowers are in bloom, is the time to celebrate Sekku.
Today the Hina Matsuri tradition combines Hina, a doll in a play from the Heian period (794-1185) and the nagashibina, who after transferring bad luck and misfortune to them, threw their dolls of paper and straw (Hitogata) in rivers or oceans. In the Edo period doll making became a very skilled craft and the Hina couple were given offerings, special sweets and there were prayers for the wellbeing of the girls in the household. So that became the dolls festival.
After the Edo period dolls were used to celebrate the birth of a baby girl and to ensure health and happiness and a happy marriage. Various items of furniture are included to indicate the ambitions for the baby girl and for the hope that she will become prosperous.
The purpose of arranging the Hina Ningyo as we see it today is still to ensure the baby girl will grow to be a healthy and considerate woman, the Hina Ningyo again transferring misfortune and bringing happiness in future life as well as protecting the girl for whom it is purchased.
Here in Gifu, Mitsuko Ando is the third generation to make Bonbori lights or lanterns for the formal display of Hina dolls. These lights are in great demand.
Mitsuko’s eldest son is also involved in the family business and the art of making Bonbori lights, so that makes four generations. The manufacture of the lights came first but then Mitsuko’s grandmother started selling Hina dolls about 60 years ago following a request from the craftsmen making the dolls in Nagoya and beyond. We sell our lights to Hina makers as far as Hokkaido and Kyushu.
There is a great collaboration between the different crafts people making the Hina Ningyo so there is a real doll making supply chain going on.
So we sit and have a chat to Mitsuko, we are in the restored loft of a traditional storage house, which was built about 100 years ago. Mitsuko tells us that there are seven tiers of Hina dolls and furnishings in a full set of Hina Ningyo. The Royal couple sit on the top tier, then the ladies in waiting, the musicians and government ministers and household servants.
The Hina Ningyo will also include furniture, a chest of draws, vanities, sewing baskets and a tea set. The Bonbori lights are a feature of the display and there are different light designs.
For Kyoto style (Kyoto is an important centre for the art of Hina making) the opposite layout is observed, the Emperor sits to the right of the display and the Empress sits on the left side. The faces of the Kyoto style dolls may be more formal than some of the more lightly observed faces of other regions.
A great deal of effort goes into choosing a Hina doll set and this is complicated by the vast array of choices of the Hina Ningyo.
Today we meet a grandmother, her daughter and granddaughter as she prepares to purchase a set. Like many things in Japan this matter is taken very seriously and the dolls can be very expensive. Space is also a consideration for many so the Hina dolls are displayed around the time of the dolls festival.
The grandmother tells us that it is wonderful that three generations can come to the doll shop to choose the most appropriate Hina Ningyo. It is something very special because it is going to be protection for my granddaughter. So selecting the dolls is a very important thing for me. We will take time in the selection because the set we choose will be the only one for that particular child.
Japan is a land that blooms with traditions and it blooms with festivals. The first seasonal festival or Sekku following the birth of a baby girl is called Hatsu-Zekku and tradition has it that the doll’s festival or Hina Matsuri is on this day (Joshi no Sekku). In ancient Chinese custom our third day of March was the first serpent (shi) day.In contemporary Japan the Peach Festival or Momo no Sekku, a time when the peach flowers are in bloom, is the time to celebrate Sekku.
Today the Hina Matsuri tradition combines Hina, a doll in a play from the Heian period (794-1185) and the nagashibina, who after transferring bad luck and misfortune to them, threw their dolls of paper and straw (Hitogata) in rivers or oceans. In the Edo period doll making became a very skilled craft and the Hina couple were given offerings, special sweets and there were prayers for the wellbeing of the girls in the household. So that became the dolls festival.
After the Edo period dolls were used to celebrate the birth of a baby girl and to ensure health and happiness and a happy marriage. Various items of furniture are included to indicate the ambitions for the baby girl and for the hope that she will become prosperous.
The purpose of arranging the Hina Ningyo as we see it today is still to ensure the baby girl will grow to be a healthy and considerate woman, the Hina Ningyo again transferring misfortune and bringing happiness in future life as well as protecting the girl for whom it is purchased.
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