彦根城博物館で今月5日まで特別展示されている井伊家のひな人形を見てきました。
でも、日本の方はひな人形なんて、よくご存じかと思います。
なので、最近、外国からのアクセスも増え、海外からのアクセスの方向けに、発信します。
The Joshi-no -sekku, or Joshi festival, on March 3rd is one of the five seasonal festivals, including Jinjitsu on January 7, Tango on May 5, Shinchiseki on July 7, and Choyo on September 9.These festivals have been commemorated since ancient times because the days mark seasonal changes and people once believed that they were prone to illness and other calimities at the change of seasons.
Duringthe Joshi festival,people prayed for safety and offered dolls, which were believrd to take toroubles with them, and food to the gods in order to ward off evil.
The Joshi festival is also known as the Peach festival.In the Edo period (1603-1868), the festival gained popularity as a day of praying for the good health of the girl child.The practice of displaying pretty dolls with offerings, including hishimochi(diamond-shaped rice cakes), sweet white sake, and other confectionaries, spread across the country.The special dolls on display for the day were calld hina, which became increasingly sophisticated and luxurious in the Edo period.In addituon,amall pieses of furniture called hina dogo, which were miniatures of real furniture, were arranged with the hina dolls.
Families of feudal lords in the Edo period prepared a set of hina dolls and furniture accompanied by lavish bridal trousseaux when marrying off their daughters.Hina funiture was generally modeled on real furniture prepared for a marriage.In many cases, a complete hina furniture set comprised dozens of pieces.
When Yachiyo(1846-1928), a daughter of Ii Naosuke, the 13th head of the Ii-family,got married to Matsudaira Yoritosi, an heir to the Matsudaira family of the Takamatsu domain(present-day Kagawa Prefecture) in the 5th yeas of Ansei(1858), a beautiful set of hina dolls and furniture along with her bridal trousseaux was prepared.Yachiyo's dolls are standing hina dolls dressed in kimono make of paper,following traditional style.Every piece of hina funiture is decorated with gold makie desingns of pine, bamboo, and plum trees, which are considered auspicious, and the tachibana citrus tree crest of the Ii family.This miniature furniture is an exquisite replica of the real one, suggesting how gorgeouts her wedding preparation was.
This exhibition displays Yachiyo's hina dolls and a luxurious set of hina furniture comprising 85 pieces, as well as various hina dolls and furnu
iture that have been handed down in old local familis, including kokin-bina dolls(traditional dolls with new designs), a full set of hina dolls displayed on a multi-tiered platform, and hina dolls placed in an imperial palace-like mansion.We hope visitors will enjoy the beautiful and gorgeous hina dolls displays, which make the springtime more joyous and colorful.