Happy Girls' Day to all you girls out there. In Japan, March 3 is Girl's Day, a day to celebrate girls! Young girls wear their best kimono and celebrate the day with their families. The Girls' Day colors are pastel pink, green and white. There's even a Girls' Day song! The main thing about this holiday is displaying your hina dolls (see the picture above). A daughter is given a doll when she is born...then you add to your set, getting another doll each Girls' Day. This is my neighbor's Miki's set, which was given to her by her parents. The picture is a little blurry, but they are so beautiful! Families put their dolls on display for a few weeks before March 3, to express their wish for their daughters' good health and growth. The doll set is always put away on March 3 because of the superstitious belief that, otherwise, a girl won't get married until late.
Saturday, Emily's Japanese friend Hana and her mother Miki had a Girls' Day party for all the girls in the neighborhood. Everyone was invited over to see Miki's hina doll collection. Miki's two daughters wore their kimonos. The girls did flower arranging and sushi making. It was a great day!
The pink flowers are peach blossoms. these pink and yellow flowers are flowers associated with Girls' Day.
Hana rolling her sushi.
Hana's little sister Kaede showing off her kimono.
The neighborhood girls
Miki helping Hana with her kimono.
Miki helping Hana with her kimono.
Hana has been taking a traditional Japanese dance class after school. She was showing the fan dance to the girls. I tried to talk Emily into taking this class, but she chose tennis instead. Maybe next year.
Miki even had desserts in the Girls' Day colors!
Miki even had desserts in the Girls' Day colors!
Reminiscing: Two years ago today I was sitting in a Relief Society presidency meeting. My Relief Society president, Karen, had previously lived in Japan. She started out the meeting by wishing us a happy Girls' Day and giving us strawberry Pocky, a popular Japanese treat. She must have bought it at an international grocery store. Little did I know that less than a year later, I would be moving to Japan and experiencing Girls' Day firsthand.
3 comments:
I love reading your blog and finding out about Japanese culture. Norm remembers Japanese Boy's Day growing up in Hawaii, where he was the only haole in his school class. I think it's really nice that the have a Girl's Day too, and I love the tradition of giving dolls...that must make the daughters feel special.
That is so fun! Just think of the amazing memories Emily will have of Japan.
Wow Jill- that's really cool that they have a Girl's day and you get to see all the Japanese culture first hand. Are you going to get Emily a doll and a kimono?
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