Here are some photographs of a miniature contemporary Hina display:
Above is the completed display with its box behind it.
This photograph shows the box and the one below it shows how the contents were packed:
I took a chance when I saw this set offered for sale on the internet at a small price. It had to be sent from Asia and I knew it would not arrive in time for Girls' Day but it appealed to me so much that I bought it anyway. It arrived today in a very small box that the seller made from a larger electronics box. I did not know what to expect, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Although it is plastic, the details are quite intricate and it is very traditional. The entire display with the stand is less than six inches in height. The tiny figures of the Emperor and Empress are probably no more than half an inch in height. They are truly miniatures.
As I began to take the tiny pieces from their plastic bags to assemble the scene, all the years of adulthood gradually fell from me and I suddenly felt like a child again, wrapped in the aura of magic that was so easy to summon in those days. I became a participant in the Japanese court and could imagine the weeping charry trees outside, the arched bridges and the stone palaces and temples of the era. It is amazing how powerful miniature scenes can be even now. I really felt a bit of a thrill putting it all together.
A few bits of plastic and I'm in seventh heaven! What does this say about me? I rather hope that it is a positive quality and not a character flaw. After all, it is important to find joy in every day, even when those days are clouded by physical pain.
Lou Reed once wrote: 'Heroin be the death of me. It's my life and it's my wife...' It seems to me that even if the desire to collect small exotic items is a vice, it is a simple, non-destructive one and it does fuel an eternal desire in me for more knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom, I know, but apart from all this, why does everything have to be serious? Perhaps it is sufficient that it is FUN.
Here is a charming video with a traditional Hina-matsuri song as well as some marvelous images of different types of displays, including a cake!
Hina-matsuri Song
And another video about Hina-matsuri, showing the floating of the dolls upon water as well as other images:
Hina-matsuri with contempoary Characters
This second video shows some of the bizarre contemporary modifications to the traditional display, including the depiction of the Emperor's Court as Disney characters. I am not keen myself on this!
The song with lyrics in Japanese:
Hina song and displays
And finally, some truly gorgeous hina sets as well as hina displays in the form of mobiles:
Hina Displays
My study of comparative mythology and folk tales through the years widened to include international festivals and folk traditions. In some fashion, it is the miniature symbols of these festivals that enchant me most, partly because I lived a transient existence for much of my life in foreign countries and cities far from home and partly because of my childhood love of dolls and dollhouses.
I actually never owned a proper dollhouse. I still would love to have one someday. When I was small, I used shelves in a glass case as my dollhouse and made all the furniture and furnishings from household items and seashells. Even so, that miniature life became very real and the characters who inhabited that home and visited, whether human or otherwise (two were mice made of real fur named Jonathan and Peter) had a reality that was almost tangible to me. Their friendships and romances, the search for a new item of furniture or a set of 'dishes' made of matching shells or other tiny items was very real to me. In a childhood where I had absolutely no control over my life and no room of my own, those shelves in the glass case were the closest to a sanctuary where a table set with tiny dishes and food would remain undisturbed and there was a sort of peace and continuity to their existence. My mother's almost frantic ambition for a never-ending social life spilled over into my own life and guaranteed that I seldom could read a book or even go to sleep without some interruption from a drunken visitor searching for the loo or the incessant noise from the piano and the loud echo of elephantine dancing at all hours.
I still somehow feel that there is less threat to miniature possessions than to full-size ones. After all, if everything one owns could be packed into a single valise, one could take it anywhere. Unfortunately, at this point in life, I have much that is not portable but I still love the concept of tiny scenes and landscapes.
As a child, one of my favourite series of books was 'The Borrowers'. There were a number of concepts in those books that resonated in me. One was the idea that small scraps and bits of stuff that might otherwise be meaningless could become elegant tapestries and marvelous weapons or tools in the hands of the tiny people who 'borrowed' items from larger humans. The other was the idea that somewhere there was a world that could be accessed through a keyhole or a tiny hole in the wall... a world that was free from the noise and bustle of our reality. I did not like the fact that the cat in the books was an enemy lbut I suppose it does make sense that a cat would see a tiny creature as a playmate and not comprehend its fragility!
I think I am blessed in a way to live in the era of cyberspace, now that I am disabled. There was a time when one could travel vicariously through the power of imagination by reading a book and that still is magical but now, one actually can obtain rare or fascinating items from other countries simply by searching on the internet. When we went on a cruise to the Mediterranean a few years ago, I was frustrated by the fact that we had little time ashore at any port and furthermore, that I had very little money for souvenirs. When I returned home, however, I was able to find souvenirs of all the best aspects of the places we had visited on the internet! I paid far less for them and found BETTER items than would have been possible in the 'tourist traps' that were the only places accessible to cruise visitors.
I look at my little hina set and realise that, were I in Tokyo on Girls' Day, I might not have been able to find THIS set at all. Ebay was packed with hina sets depicting Micky and Minnie Mouse as Emperor and Empress as well as Hello Kitty in the same roles. I would not have wanted those and I wonder if that was what is most popular at present.
The most beautiful hina sets of course are the antique ones. I saw a few on sale for a fairly hefty price. The Japanese have described the beauty of used items eloquently in a curious little game called 'Animal Crossing' that may be the most popular and long-lived game in the world. There is a shop called the 'Re-Tail' shop that sells used items. You can place items for sale there or find items that other villagers have placed for sale. It is a way to find rare items as well as persuading villagers to buy better or more beautiful items for THEIR homes. In my own village, there is a character named Kyle (a wolf, I believe) who told me just today that: 'Every item that comes through here always has such special memories attached to it. If you think like that... don't you feel like even the simplest item holds a special meaning?'
Another pronouncement: 'You may be able to get rid of an item... but the memories you had with it stay with you, Eugenia!'
Incidentally, 'Animal Crossing' is proof of the axiom that Education CAN be fun. If any one is looking for a game for a child that will be fun to play but will teach him/her about fossils, fish, classical art work and insects, as well as encouraging the old art of letter-writing and common courtesy, you need look no further. One of the goals of Animal Crossing is to stock the local museum fully and this is accomplished by fishing, catching insects with a net, buying art from a shady character named Redd who, when he visits, brings three fake art works and one genuine piece, thereby teaching the buyer how to discern a genuine painting by Botticelli from a fake copy and finally, by excavating fossils. Fossils are found in parts and one has to complete them before they will be given a detailed description in the museum. Furthermore, it includes cultural festivals throughout the globe. I rather deprecate the fact that certain items conneccted to these festivlas are available only in the countries that celebrate them but as one of the aspects of the game that Nintendo encourages is trading with players from other countries, I suppose that does make sense. In Japan, they gave out special items for Girls' Day, including a full Hina display. A friend of mine who belongs to forums where items are traded managed to obtain one for me. Other items available only in Japan are special headgear that the player's character can wear in the form of an Emperor's Cap and an Empress Tiara. It really is a very detailed, engrossing game that can become an obsessionj if one is not careful.
In any case, the Animal Crossing hina set is very detailed but I do like having a real one, even if it only includes the Emperor and Empress and the traditional rice cake offering, cherry blossom lanterns and the plum and peach trees.
Animal Crossing really does have some clever amusing dialogue although some can be simply silly. It was developed for players of all ages and endeavours to 'speak' to children with a silly sense of humour as well as being witty on occasion.
For example, Rosie told me: Some people call that storage but I call it a fashion hotel for all my clothes'. That made me laugh.
It was in Animal Crossing New Leaf that I first encountered the hagoita actually and became fascinated with it. The hagoita is a traditional gift for girls at the New Year, I believe, and is based on the ancient game of badminton known as Hanetsuki. The hagoita is a paddle sold usually with a feather shuttlecock. The paddle can be very intricately decorated with figures of famous Kabuki characters, geishas or princesses from historical eras. Were it not for Animal Crossing and my firned, who gave the virtual hagoita to me, I might never have known about it!
Above is the view of a traditional Hagoita market. These are temporary usually and can be found during the month of December.
