March 8 celebrated the Japanese way

In Japan March 8 is Girls’ Day. In honor of women’s day in the Land of the Rising Sun, an exhibit of traditional Japanese dolls has opened in Kyiv. This is a present to Ukrainian women on the eve of their holiday from the female staff of the Japanese Embassy.

Girls’ Day is also a holiday that celebrates dolls, known as Hinamatsuri, a calendar holiday celebrated on March 3 in Japan. Japanese men have honored their women this way since time immemorial. On the eve of the holiday girls’ rooms in Japanese homes are adorned with a mini exhibit of dolls and toys and decorated with traditional Japanese sweets and peach tree blossoms. Special dolls-not the kind that children play with — handed down through the generations as family relics, are selected for the displays. These dolls are prepared on the eve of the holiday and then returned to special boxes to await the next holiday.

The dolls in these domestic Japanese displays are considered the highest expression of family happiness and well-being. The festive display in a girl’s room includes dolls representing the personages of the imperial dynasty, dressed in full regalia. These dolls are placed in hierarchical order: at the top are the emperor and empress clad in ceremonial costumes, followed by members of the royal court. All these figurines have a symbolic meaning; even the dogs at the feet of the dolls signify dedication and loyalty.

This feast dates back thousands of years. Originally it was a ritual to cleanse people of sickness and evil spirits; a person was supposed to blow on a doll, wipe the sick parts of its body, and then throw it into the nearest body of water. The rite has undergone changes. In later times the dolls were placed on a holy shelf along with figurines of deities and tablets bearing the names of deceased ancestors.

Four hundred years ago this tradition was transformed into a doll festival. On this day mothers and daughters put on their festive kimonos and visit relatives, admire the toys on display, and treat guests to specially made traditional sweets.

Japanese men do not spoil their women on this day, the way we do here. In Japan the occasion is used to unobtrusively instill in little girls the rules of proper etiquette and form good character and the skill required to maintain proper respect for valuable things by restraining their whims.

This free exhibit continues all month at the library of the Ukrainian- Japanese Center at 37 Prospekt Peremohy in Kyiv.