Japan's Feast of Dolls.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1890, 23 April 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

Japan's Feast of Dolls.

A peculiar 3 of Jap^nc-ro etore3 53 that only B'ioh goods ore dispbyed as aro approP'iHte to tha peaaon cf npproaohing Leuvil. Iri3toad of displaying a gero.'J. stcos cf gooda, as do ail cur dsjkis throughout tns yaar, a3 soon as the festival i-s over they are inimediitely packed up and laid c&rsfuUy Bw.iy for another year. For two wot-sd a gYc»t numb™ of store? aad nir-et paauua tu7,ib-en exhibiting a great display of ail kinds and sizes of dol's, together with cveryfchng thereunto belorgmg ia miniature. X'tie reason for all thi3 ia that on the third nay of the third mouth ia hi hi the ''Hitra 61'itauri," or, p. 3it ia generally Q'll'cd. tha " Feast of Dj!ls." It k Id'oied to the rwis, and ia considered by _ them tha greateas day of the a-.-a on, andin'jsars gone by was duly jelebrutei by all families wtih &reat pomp, B^rarcony ami preparation Of lite years those who are called " pro^rtosive" Jdpancs3 soim to have ignored the custom to a greas extent.

Mjst of the dolla en view were from tores iochsa to eighteen inyhes in hxighf, acd dressed to represent some noted <"a tnlo, aiugnaior som^ prominent personal of the feudal times. M*nv ati 1 posaßS3 a stock of heirlooms in tha v/ay of do;l } that cUiebiefc many years. Formerly it \v.ia the cu'tjm thai when a daughter had b:en bjrn in the boui9 during the previous year, a pair oi iraa^e; are bought for her, which she plays with uatil she i 3 grotrn. When shr- marries she takes them with her to he? new homo aed, gives them to her children, and eaoh year BQO a'lda tohor stck a3 the family increases, bo in come faoiiiias a groat number are olleofa^.. Thay aro made of wood, olay, porcelain, and some are rno3t exquisitely dre^ed. In ail the stores are found complete 8t < oJ eveiythiog balorg^ng to the house, either fas oookiag, r-atiag, sleeping or travelling. On she festival day all these ara brought oas and arranged upon an ele7ated p'aifo-m, and offerings of Bakij rice, oacdlea and fruits ara made to eaob, and all phases of fsmale life are most faithfuly mimicked, by these famala juveniles.