March 3rd (yesterday) was Hinamatsuri (Girl's day).
We display dolls for praying for young girls' growth and happiness;
usually we display them about a month before the day
and remove them soon after the day.
It is said that if you don't remove them soon after the festival,
your daughter's marriage would be delayed.
(well...I have to confess only on here that I often keep them
about a week after the festival, that's a secret, though:))
My daughter is already grown up,
but I displayed them as always, praying for her happiness and success.
Yesterday I looked at her photo album feeling nostalgic.
For some reason, I only have one child, but I thank God for having her in my life.
She has made my life an unbelievably rich and beautiful!
She was delighted with her princess dress (made by her mother :))
for a play at kindergarden, and I was delighted with her smile:)
I loved learning about this tradition! Even having had several brothers live in Japan, I've never heard of it before. I chuckled about you leaving the dolls out extra long. I might do that as well! After all . . . no reason to rush my daughters into early marriages! ;)
ReplyDeleteThis celebration is great; have I mentioned already how much I love Japanese traditions? :)
ReplyDeleteNow to your daughter: oh what a sweetie!! Sachi, whether we have one child or many, whether our kids are tiny or grown-up, they do make us feel so special and alive, don't they?
Dear Nancy,
ReplyDeleteSo your brothers have lived in Japan. Then they might seen several giant fish, carp streamers (we call them "koinobori", flying high up in the sky on May 5th, boy's day?:)
Well, as for the "Hina-doll", they are displayed often extra long, and it might be a subconscious way of saying "I-don't-want-to-let-her-go", haha:)
Dear Val,
ReplyDeleteI hope I can introduce as many aspects of Japanese cultures as possible. So maybe I'll explain about Boy's Day when it comes;)
Oh yes, definitely they do! And no matter how old they are, we mothers offer our unconditional love to them forever, don't we:)
such a dazzling smile:)
ReplyDeleteI love that custom.....love the idea to take a month
to pray for our girls and then boys.
brilliant.
thank you for sharing,
Jennifer
Dear Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteChildren's smiles heal all wounds:)
Thank you for the comment!