Hinamatsuri!
Today, March 3rd, is Hinamatsuri - Girls' Day - in Japan. If you're of the XX chromosome persuasion, today's your day!
I mentioned before that I had a very festive, culturally rich childhood, thanks to my awesome mom. In our house, March 3rd was no exception to this rule.
The day typically involved a little Japanese gift of some sort and special senbei made especially for Girls' Day (essentially green, pink and white balls of rice and sugar).
Hina Matsuri means displaying your Japanese imperial court dolls (my Uncle Chris refers to them as "Japanese Barbies" but these dolls don't have huge boobs like Barbie...they are Japanese, after all!).
On Girls' Day, we sometimes went to Lil' Tokyo in LA's J-Town. Once we watched a ceremony at the posh New Otani Hotel (now the Kyoto Grand Hotel) where we floated the dolls down a little stream to pray for children's safety (read more about this custom here).
My sweet mom always took us out for a proper English tea on Girls' Day. Sometimes we went to Rose Tree Cottage, and sometimes we went to the high English tea at the Ritz-Carlton. We were always made to feel special (and spoiled!) and my mom made us feel like she was celebrating us.
Today has me feeling nostalgic for my childhood. I want to eat some good Japanese food and enjoy a high tea with my own little girl for her first Hinamatsuri.
Anyone up for a field trip to J-Town (either in San Jose or SF) this weekend? Tea, crumpets, and sushi?
I mentioned before that I had a very festive, culturally rich childhood, thanks to my awesome mom. In our house, March 3rd was no exception to this rule.
The day typically involved a little Japanese gift of some sort and special senbei made especially for Girls' Day (essentially green, pink and white balls of rice and sugar).
Hina Matsuri means displaying your Japanese imperial court dolls (my Uncle Chris refers to them as "Japanese Barbies" but these dolls don't have huge boobs like Barbie...they are Japanese, after all!).
On Girls' Day, we sometimes went to Lil' Tokyo in LA's J-Town. Once we watched a ceremony at the posh New Otani Hotel (now the Kyoto Grand Hotel) where we floated the dolls down a little stream to pray for children's safety (read more about this custom here).
My sweet mom always took us out for a proper English tea on Girls' Day. Sometimes we went to Rose Tree Cottage, and sometimes we went to the high English tea at the Ritz-Carlton. We were always made to feel special (and spoiled!) and my mom made us feel like she was celebrating us.
Today has me feeling nostalgic for my childhood. I want to eat some good Japanese food and enjoy a high tea with my own little girl for her first Hinamatsuri.
Anyone up for a field trip to J-Town (either in San Jose or SF) this weekend? Tea, crumpets, and sushi?
MEEEEE!!!
Posted by
Maryn |
March 4, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Oooo! I'll go!!! Oh wait... I live in OC... :(
Posted by
Mishy |
March 4, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Happy (day late) Girls Day! My sister has a set just like the one in your picture, while mine is smaller, in a case (did I show you my dolls when you were in San Diego? I keep them out all year because I think they are too awesome to pack away). Remind me to tell you about the short story I wrote about Girls Day in 4th grade - it was published in the San Francisco Japanese newspaper!
Posted by
Jennifer Imazeki |
March 4, 2009 at 10:12 PM
When is Boys Day?
Oh yeah, I think I heard that they turned it into Children's Day. That means girls get two days, while boys get one-half. : (
Posted by
Anonymous |
March 5, 2009 at 11:23 PM