Japan's annual Doll Festival, Hina Matsuri (ひな祭り), is not just for any kind of dolls: it's for the elegantly beautiful hina ningyou  (雛人形). Although the classic doll sets are not a collectible everyone will wish to buy--a complete fifteen-doll, fully accessoried set, even if bought a piece at a time, can run more than $10,000 and probably cannot be had for less than $5000--Hina Matsuri and hina ningyou have made their way throughout Japanese culture. Paintings and prints contain Hina Matsuri motifs; hina ningyou appear on teacups and phone cards; Winnie-the-Pooh and Sailor Moon have both been seen playing hina. One of the most beautiful things I saw while doing this newsletter's YJ searches was a tapestry that started at a mere 1300yen. Although I will tell you about the traditional dolls and show you how to find them on YJ, I will also show you more affordable ways to bring a little Hina Matsuri into whatever collection you are building.

Accessories

• The byoubu   (屏風, folding screen): A folding screen stands behind the dairi bina and seems to be the most crucial of the accessories to have: if a set has only one accessory, it's the byoubu. It may be plain, golden, or elaborately decorated.


• The bonbori   (雪洞, paper-covered lamps): The lamps themselves, either basically spherical or cone-shaped, are called hibukuro  (火袋, lit., fire sacks). They are decorated with panels of either paper or silk that usually have cherry or plum blossom patterns. There are other possibilities, however: I've seen pine trees and one set designed to make it look like the lamp is shining through mist. The hibukuro are mounted at the top of tall posts. In sets of recent make, the bonbori may be electrical and actually light up.


• The sanbou kazari  (三方飾り, although the "kazari" is often dropped and the first two kanji are sometimes pronounced "sanpou"): Literally, this term means "three sides decoration," but "sanbou" is an idiom for a small offering stand. This one is placed between the royal couple and has two vases of flowers (kuchibana, 口花). The flowers are peach blossoms, the East Asian symbol of a good and early marriage. The sanbou can also be used as part of the Kodomo no Hi (子供の日, Children's Day) display, but at that time the flowers should be irises.

The second step

The Udaijin (右大臣, Minister of the Right): Usually an old man, often dressed in black and with a relatively pink face.

The Sadaijin (左大臣, Minister of the Left): A young man, often dressed in red, with the white aristocratic face that most of the hina dolls have.

The Ministers are both armed, usually with bows and arrows, and occupy the far ends of their step. The "right" and "left" being referred to are, of course, the obina's right and left, so from the viewer's point of view, the Sadaijin should be on the right and the Udaijin should be on the left.

Accessories:

• The kakebanzen   (掛盤膳, lit., covered-bowl tables; often just kakezen or even ozen [お膳, table, with the honorific "o"]): A pair of tables with legs that curve smoothly inward, with runners connecting all the legs. Sometimes the legs don't connect; they flair stiffly outward and are panels with three sharply meeting sections: two that go down each of sides of the table a bit, with the third connecting them and covering the blunted corner of the table. Then they're called chouashigata zen  (蝶足形膳, lit., butterfly-leg-shaped table), the name deriving from the shape of the curve at the outer edges of the legs. In either case, one table is found just inside of each Minister. The tables are covered with food bowls, most of them covered.


• The hishidai   (菱台, diamond-shaped stands, which are used for hishimochi): Generally, these stands have a base of more-or-less solid panels that flair from the center to meet the floor in a diamond a little smaller than the top; sometimes these panels have decorative cutouts. If a hishidai has legs carved to resemble the shape of a cat's, it's called a nekoashigata hishidai  (猫足形菱台, lit., cat-leg-shaped diamond-shaped stand). The hishidai often have model hishimochi sitting on top of them. Two of these are either together in the center (when the kakebanzen are present) or one is next to each Minister. I've seen a wide variety of things put in the center when the kakebanzen aren't present.

The shichou   (仕丁) or eji  (衛士): "Shichou" seems to be the preferred term, but "eji" does appear occasionally. I couldn't find a certain translation of either term. One site said "court officials" for "eji," and perhaps it's such an honor to be a servant of the obina that you have to be a court official to get even that far. These three dolls are also known as the sannin jougo  (三人上戸, the three drinkers). As the lowest-ranking members of the hina set, they are often dressed more plainly than the others. The nakijougo   (泣き上戸, sad drinker) is a usually a young man, who sits in the center with the obina's shoes. The next oldest, the okorijougo   (怒り上戸, angry drinker) holds the obina's wrapped umbrella. The usually elderly waraijougo  (笑い上戸, cheerful drinker) holds (if I have understood correctly) a wrapped hat stand for the obina's hat; at any rate, he's got a post with a rounded, wrapped disk at the top. I have seen drawings of hina sets, although not yet actual dolls, that have these three holding, respectively, a dust pan, a rake, and a broom. I have seen doll sets in which the two older shichou swap objects; the nakijougo always seems to have the obina's shoes. (Perhaps his sadness is occasioned by his living a thousand years before Odor Eaters.)

Accessories: On each end of the step is a flowering tree, the species of which seem to be in a fair degree of dispute. Most sources I have seen say a mandarin orange on the viewer's left and a cherry on the right, and this appears to be the case most of the time. The other trees I have seen in some Western sources are plum trees and peach trees, and I did finally confirm the existence of both of those as hina trees, too. All four trees have symbolic significance in East Asia.



• Cherry trees (sakura, 桜): The sakura is almost certainly the most popular flowering tree in Japan today. Its blossoms symbolize transient beauty, such as that of springtime, young love, or the Heian period. The flowers are a very pale pink.



• Mandarin orange trees (tachibana, 橘): In China, these trees are associated with wealth (the evergreen leaves) and unity and perfection (the fruit). I have yet to find a source on Japanese mandarin orange symbolism, but given the similarity of its and China's traditions on peaches, I would hazard a guess that the Japanese associations do not stray too far from their Chinese source in this case either.



• Peach trees (momo, 桃): As mentioned before, this is the symbol of a good and early marriage. The blossoms are varying shades of pink, but in Asia they seem usually to be a brilliant pink, much darker than cherry blossoms, and they are noticeably the largest of these four flowers. Hina Matsuri's other name is the Peach Festival (Momo no Sekku, 桃の節句), and fresh peach flowers are used to decorate the hina dan.



• Plum trees (ume, 梅): The most popular flowering tree of Heian Japan. Like the cherry, it symbolized springtime and transient beauty, but as the only tree to bloom while there was still snow on the ground, it also symbolized strength and beauty in adversity, an association that continues today. If you see a hina tree with red blossoms, you can assume it is a plum, but plums can also have white blossoms, just like mandarin orange trees. Just remember that in the spring, plum trees have flowers but are lacking many leaves or any fruit.

So decide what flower symbolism suits you! Just be aware that the plums and peaches, as trees anyway, are few and far between. The images of the flowers frequently appear on byoubu or other accessories, though, and sometimes even on the dolls' clothes, so you might find other ways to work in the flower imagery you prefer.

Also on this step can be two purses (cloth bags with drawstrings), assumably storing the obina's gold, between the shichou. To find the purses, I'd recommend using the general accessories search below and looking through; no specific references seemed very reliable.

Hina dougu  (雛道具, lit., "hina props"): This term actually includes the accessories higher up on the hina dan as well, and sometimes those are sold in sets with the ones on the lowest steps. In the lists for each step, the items are not necessarily given in the order in which they should be placed (of which I am not certain).

• On step six: Here can be found the things the ohina-sama need in their palace: a tansu   (箪笥), a chest of drawers, usually with five drawers and sometimes with a pair of swinging doors that can cover them; a nagamochi   (長持), a long chest for storing of kimono; two hasamibako   (挟箱), small clothing boxes that together are a little shorter than the nagamochi and therefore are placed on top of it; a kyoudai   (鏡台, lit., mirror stand), a chest of drawers shorter than the tansu but with a mirror on top; a haribako   (針箱), a sewing box, which looks like a chest of drawers with a post on one side that is topped with a padded box (maybe for needles?); two hibachi   (火鉢), braziers that either look like little pots or like kotatsu, being a table with the brazier in the center, in which case they may be called gotenhibachi  (御殿火鉢, palace braziers); and a daisu   (台子), which is a set of ocha dougu  (お茶道具, sometimes cha no yu dougu, 茶の湯道具), utensils for the Japanese tea ceremony, and the stand they are stored in.

  These items are usually sold in sets, as you may have guessed if you have looked at the searches in the paragraph above. The most common are the kakebanzenzoroi  or kakezenzoroi  (掛盤膳揃, lit., the kakebanzen set: the kakebanzen, the sanbou kazari, the takatsuki, and the hishidai), the mitsuzoroi  (三つ揃, lit., the three set: the tansu, the nagamochi, and the hasamibako, the two hasamibako apparently counting as only one item), and the kyouharizoroi  (鏡針揃, lit., the mirror-needle set: the kyoudai and the haribako). These, as well as the names of some more obscure sets not listed here, are included under the searches for their constituent items.

• On step 7: Here are the things that the ohina-sama might want when they go outside their palace: a juubako   (重箱), a set of nested laquered boxes for carrying food that may either have a cord tied vertically around the boxes or a stiff handle that locks them together; a gokago   (御駕籠 or 御駕篭), a palanquin; and a goshoguruma   (御所車), an ox-drawn carriage favored by Heian nobility. This last is sometimes known as gisha or gyuusha  (both written 牛車). If you see an ox drawing a cart of flowers, that is not the goshoguruma but a different, less common hina dougu, the hanaguruma   (花車, flower cart). The gokago and the goshoguruma are sometimes sold as a set, the norimonozoroi  (乗物揃, lit., the vehicle set).

If you bought your hina ningyou set as a complete set (of whatever size), you also might possess a plaque that has the signature of the artist who made it. This you may place anywhere on the hina dan. I've seen it in the center of the Ministers' step and in various places on the lowest two steps.

But is that all, you say? Your ohina-sama are true Heian nobles and they must entertain themselves and keep themselves completely spiffy and pursue the arts and how can they be expected to get by with so few possessions? Well, to be honest, they're not expected to. Anything that existed in the Heian era (and at least one set of items from the Edo period) can be obtained as hina dougu. Collecting them all might not even be possible, and just listing the other ones I've seen would take at least a small additional article. Not that I'm not willing to write one, should your ohina-sama so desire, but for now let's explore instead the wide variety of forms that the traditional hina set has taken.

[1/6/05: Well, apparently the ohina-sama did so desire; I got more than one request for this article. So I did do it. If you want more dougu than you can shake a hina-sized stick at, click here!]

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