Doll News Summer 2017 - 117

doll or dolls into the sea was assumed to be part of
the puriﬁcation ceremony. We are not told if the doll
is made of paper or straw or cloth, and no mention
is made of rubbing it on the body for puriﬁcation
before casting it into the sea. In fact, Genji seems to
invest much of himself in this doll,
'It was the day of the serpent, the ﬁrst such
day in the Third Month. The day when
a man who has worries goes down and
washes them away,' said one of his men,
admirably informed, it would seem, in all
the annual observances. Wishing to have a
look at the seashore, Genji set forth. Plain,
rough curtains were strung up among the
trees, and a soothsayer who was doing the
circuit of the province was summoned to
perform the lustration. Genji thought he
could see something of himself in the rather
large doll being cast off to sea, bearing away
sins and tribulations. 'Cast away to drift on
an alien vastness, I grieve for more than a
doll cast out to sea.'
The Hina tradition developed further in the
Heian ("peace and tranquility") period from 794
to 1185. This was also the time when the Japanese
imperial court reached its peak. The Japanese
historically regarded the Emperor as a god and
the early hina displays were a means of expressing
loyalty to and affection for the Imperial Court. In
time the Hina Doll Festival evolved into a means
of celebrating the healthy growth of girls and a
wish for their happy future marriages and was
commemorated by displaying a standing pair of
male and female dolls made of paper. Still today
this tachibina, "standing hina," pair, symbolizes
Hinamatsuri. The festival was legally established as
Hinamatsuri, in 1687.
During the Edo period (1603-1868) the Hina Doll
Festival became even more popular, spreading from
the samurai households to the merchant families.
When doll-makers got involved, they developed
new forms and styles for this pair of dolls, based
on the actual or perceived fashions of the Imperial
court. Seated dolls began to appear. Shapes of head
and facial painting changed as fashion changed.
Textiles, too, represented current style, and the
size of hina continued to grow as the wealthy
wanted their hina to be bigger and better than their
neighbor's. The most expensive types of dolls grew

(Two photos above) "Kyoho-bina" (Sago Ningyo no Le doll museum)
are sometimes referred to as "Kyoto doll." These lovely examples
illustrate the variety of textiles and facial characteristics found on
these early hina.

so very large that they became subjected to regulation
as they were considered contradictory to the shogunate
government's frugality policy.
As wealth and status changed, the hina dolls developed
into more lavish sets, depicting the entire imperial court
with the centerpiece being the imperial couple. Dolls
depicting three ladies-in-waiting, ﬁve musicians and
three court attendants were added. The number of dolls
eventually totaled at least 15. Miniature furnishings
imitating those items found in the wealthy court or daimyo
houses were included as well. The display stand during the
mid-Edo period was composed of two or three levels. By
the late Edo period, as more items were added, there were
seven or eight tiers.
But all hina, regardless of type or size, were considered
ceremonial, and thought of as temporary lodging places
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Doll News Summer 2017
