Hina Matsuri - Hina Dolls

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Hina Matsuri, the Doll's Festival on March 3
雛祭りにだるま・ひなまつり


source : 門司ヶ関人形

Quote
If Daruma is at least an honorary doll festival participant (actually I've never seen him included in a Hina Matsuri display on the web or in person, but my experience is limited!) ...

Judy Shoaf
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Darumasan-Japan/message/760


Last year I promised to find one, and now here he is, with his bride and all in chocolate.



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In the Daruma Library:

The Hina Matsuri, by Alan Plate

Antique Japanese Festival Dolls, by Timothy Mertel


Hina Doll Festival (hina matsuri) and HAIKU


. Folk Art in Japan - Hina Dolls .


ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

..... Japanese Dolls


http://www.lasieexotique.com/ningyo.html


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Scroll with Daruma Hina Dolls
Painted by Ikawa Yoko

掛け軸-だるま雛／井川　洋光



©　honakote.com


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Hina Dolls from the Fukui Area.
these are from Nihonmatsu.

Darumabina だるま雛


©　PHOTO : indymuseum

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Tea cup with Daruma Hina Dolls
by the famous Kyoto potter Nonomura Ninsei
抹茶碗 仁清 達磨雛（だるまびな）






source : kakaku.ecnavi.jp

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Click for more photos of Darumabina !



雛人形　だるま hina ningyo Daruma


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Hina Doll Festival sweets and Daruma
from 舞来飴, 寶月堂 Fuugetsudoo, Fugetsudo

Photo curtesy of Kyoko Shibata, Facebook


New Year Sweets special
http://www.hougetudou.com/kisetu/syougatu/syougatu.html


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Read more about Daruma san and Japanese Sweets, Dagashi

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Off pedestal, Hina dolls take up ‘ordinary’ life
Traditionally, the dolls at the annual March 3 doll festival are displayed in tiers. But those currently on exhibit in Gujo, Gifu Prefecture, are acting out ordinary human activities, from drinking to washing. Some are even playing soccer.

The unique “performances” of some 2,000 Hina dolls have attracted visitors to this city since the exhibit began on Feb. 9. Organizers say the event is also revitalizing the business community and hope to make this a new winter tradition in this tourist city best known for its summer festival.
source : www.japantimes.co.jp / Feburary 2013


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Magazine cover dated 1913.

- source : facebook

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Read more details HERE

. WKD : Hina Doll Festival (hina matsuri 雛祭り) 　 　


. itobina 糸雛 string hina dolls .
Satsuma itobina 薩摩糸びな Satsuma string hina dolls
From Kagoshima, Miyazaki


. Folk Art in Japan - Hina Dolls .

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. - yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai monsters - .


source : 門司ヶ関人形





In the year 1745 in the home of the Dainagon Nakayama 中山大納言栄親卿 one day there came all kinds of things and goods flowing into the house. Exorcism rituals did not stop these strange happenings and in autumn the Dainagon died. later the mysterious power (kai-i 怪異) moved on to the 毘沙門堂里坊 Bishamon hall. There, during the Hina Festival, the dolls began to laugh all day long.



In Miki town (Kagawa 香川県) there lived 三平 Sanpei san near Ninosaka 二ノ坂の焼き場.
The family always decorated the Hina dolls and talked to them.
One day the house burned down, but it seems that some strong force (お性根) had come to the house and saved the dolls, letting them roll out of the home.

- source : nichibun yokai database -
雛 24 to explore
棟上雛 / お雛様 / 烏の雛 / 雛鶴姫

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. Edo craftsmen　江戸の職人 shokunin .

hinaningyoshii, hina ningyoo shi 雛人形師 making Hina dolls


京の雛さま　江戸の雛さま

- quote -
Hina dolls are dressed like court nobles from the Heian period ...
..... tachi bina, or "standing dolls." in the Edo period ...
..... suwari bina, or "sitting dolls."
..... "Kanei bina" ..... "Genroku bina."
..... 次郎左衛門雛　"Jirozaemon" and the 有職雛　"Yusoku bina" - Representing the Orthodoxy of Court Culture
..... "Kokin bina"
- source and photos: kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio -

Making Hina dolls for the rich people of Edo was the job of some specialists.
Different craftsmen made the head, the body and the robes.
kashirashi, kashira-shi 頭師 makes the head of a Hina doll, the most important part, which gives the expression to a doll. The head was mostly made from the wood of paulownia (tooso 桐塑). The wood is made to powder (kiriko 桐粉) and then kneaded with natural glue. When the form is done, it is whitened by layering it with gofun whitewash powder. Finally the colors are added.
gofun 胡粉 is made from ground oyster shells or egg shells and special glue; it produces a shining, enameling white color for the surface of clay dolls.
. . . CLICK here for more Photos !

doo ningyo shi 胴人形師 makes the body of a doll, not only Hina dolls. He then adds the head, arms and legs. Sometimes these parts are fixed together, sometimes they can be taken apart for storage purposes.


kitsukeshi 着付師 puts the robes on the doll.
The body was usually padded up with straw and the robes had to fit over it.
. . . CLICK here for more Photos !

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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 (1715-1783) .

- quote -
たらちねの抓まずありや雛の鼻
tarachine no tsuma mazu ari ya　hina no hana

Mommy, first of all,
Should have pinched up,
The nose of a hina doll!

Background:
*The nose of a baby hina doll is not always well cut or prominent. Japanese children's noses are mostly flat. 　Mothers want them to be shapely, long, straight and elegant. So often they gently pinch up their children's noses while rearing them.
* 'Tarachine' means sometime 'a mother, one's mother', sometime 'a father' and‘one's parents’. In the Haiku naturally it means a mum or mom.
* ‘Tarachine no’ has been used since as early as the 8th century as a stylized epithet or a pillow word in tanka poems in phrases like ‘tarachine no haha (母) (mother)’ or ‘tarachine no oya (親) (parents)’.
* The phrase ‘Tarachine no tsuma’ in the Haiku means that its mother pinches up (something).
Impression:
A laughing is excited by the association of mother's way of bringing up her child through the personification of a baby hina doll: she pinches up their noses with a prayer in her heart for their getting shapely. Prof. Ogata and Mr. Takahashi comment the　meaning of the Haiku is that 'the nose' of the hina doll should have been pinched up by its mother just like a living mother does.
Joys and sorrows in daily lives are important sources of haikai poems or haiku. The Poet is skilled in catching and weaving them into haiku, and makes them full of human touches.
- source : hokuoto77.com/buson-

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- - - - - Jirozaemon-bina

- quote -
Yusoku-bina Representing the Orthodoxy of Court Culture
At the time when Jirozaemon-bina was enjoying steady popularity, a new type of hina doll appeared in Kyoto. They were called Yusoku-bina as they were crafted by the yusoku method by which accurate historical evidence concerning the costumes of the court was ascertained. They were also known as Takakura-bina named after the Takakura family, the established connoisseur of yusoku knowledge who served the Imperial Palace.

Placing emphasis on the observation of historical facts, the Yusoku-bina was made very realistic in all respects, including the facial features. In terms of costume, ikan (simplified sokutai) or noshi of the court were often used rather than the sokutai (ceremonial dress). The fabrics were specially woven in accordance with court rank, age and the season, without being simply limited to gold brocade. For example, in the case of the noshi, the style for winter was selected as the Hina Matsuri and was held in March (of the lunar calendar). The costume was tailored based on the design for those under thirty years of age, by employing white with deep purple or red colored lining.

However, as these Yusoku-bina were originally produced for the nobility, they did not become popular among the general public. Nonetheless, they provided the later hina dolls with an example to follow concerning their realistic style.
- source : kyoto-shimazu.com/en -

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Kakebotoke

nnnnnnnnnnnn TOP nnnnnnnnnnnnn

Votiv Plaques, Kakebotoke 賭け仏

Read the full story with all explanations here.
掛仏の話はこちら

One more article is here !

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Two pieces from my Daruma Museum Collection





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Daruma Discussion Forum

Alphabetical Index of the Daruma Museum

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worldkigo

Cake Molds

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Kashigata, Cake Molds, 菓子型 candy molds

Cake molds (moulds, confectionery moulds, cake patterns) are used to make sweet Japanese cakes. They come in many designs, but Daruma molds are quite rare. Some molds have only one board, but some come with a cover, the two-board molds.



The stores of Toraya and Yamaboshiya are especially old and famous for this kind of confectionary, dating back to the sixteenth century.

Toraya, click on the photo.


Look at Higashi, dried sweets:
A glutinous rice flour, sugar and starch mixture or wasambonto is pressed in molds to form dry sweets.

Wasambonto
One of the oldest domestic sugar which is made with rare kind of sugar cane from Tokushima prefecture. A labor intensive and unique refining process produces powdery smooth texture, elegant taste and fragrance which are quite different from other ordinary sugars. It is commonly made into moulded dried sweets, higashi.

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Two moulds from my Daruma Museum Collection

A long one with handle and two Daruma figures. Partly eaten by the woodworm.



Detail:


ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

One single Daruma, in very good condition.

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This has three figures on one mold, quite unique.



Photos from my friend Ishino　　

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Photos from my friend Murakami.
Hight 7,5 cm, width 17 cm


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A long list with photos of various sugar cake molds. Shogun's Gallery


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. Wasanbon 和三盆 Japanese Sugar .

. Wagashi 和菓子 Sweets from Japan .



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Plates

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sara　皿　Plates with Daruma Design

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Imari Plates

An interesting blue and white Imari plate 3 pc set decorated with Daruma , from early 20 century.
The design is very unique. Very fine brushwork on Daruma's expression. Backside has 3 bats design.
Measures 5 inch diameter.
source :　www.japanese-closet.com









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Kutani Pottery 九谷焼

Kaburak store, Kanazawa
source : kaburaki.jp/store

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source : www.dodicitile.com


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source :　www.chunichi-culture.jp

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CLICK for enlargement !

Daruma plate with Shinto motives !

- source : Jennifer on facebook

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CLICK for more Daruma plates !


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. hachi はち【鉢】 bowls of all kinds .
with hokku by Matsuo Basho

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Naa-san cat

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Naa-san and Daruma

from Takasaki


© PHOTO :　blogs.yahoo.co.jp



A little manga CAT called Naa-san なーさん



Kirari's cat.
He is an outstanding cat that can sew, cook, and do other chores. Na-san has received recognition for his intelligence and singing abilities. He even knows how to repair vending machines. As a mascot character to the heroine, he provides a lot of help to Kirari and protects her from danger. At the same time, it is also shown that it is a genius cat which excels in both English and mathematics. His favorite food is taiyaki.
source : 　myanimelist.net




Takasaki Town Mascot ... 高崎だるま "たか丸"

Manga Daruma マンガ ダルマ / 漫画だるま Anime Daruma　アニメダルマ

Mascott Hot Pepper マクコット


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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
Daruma Discussion Forum

Alphabetical Index of the Daruma Museum

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worldkigo

Apsaras and Dunhuang

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Apsara, Apsaras, Heavenly Maidens
tennnyo　天女, hiten 飛天　flying apsaras, divine nymphs



This is a hand-painted copy from the walls of the Stone Caves at Dunhuang, China.
I bought it more than 15 years ago at the local museum, where these reproductions are sold quite expensively as a contribution to the preservation effort of the caves.

The painters sit in the cold caves for hours and meticulously copy the wall paintings, including the fadings and spots and missing parts. They are young aspiring painters who also make a living out of this work.

For more about Dunhuang read the LINK of Mark Schumacher below.

This page contains many photos, please be patient while they are uploaded.

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The Symbol of Dunhuang, a Heavenly Maiden



敦煌のシンボル : 「反弾き琵琶の天女像」

Look at many more photos from the area (Text in Japanese)
http://www.pluto.dti.ne.jp/~kennyko/SILKROAD/DUNHUANG_D4_4.html

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Some Apsaras, taken from this book:
敦煌石窟, 敦煌文物研究所／平凡社 1982

The photos will give you an impression about the changes of painting style, colors used during the ages and the kind of abstraction used. Some of them look like modern art to me.
One of the major problems of wall painting at these times was to find the appropriate mineral colors that would last for a while.

Northern Liang Dynasty (421 - 534)






Western Wei Dynasty (535 - 556)







Northern Zhou Dynasty (557 - 581)




Sui Dynasty (581 - 618)










Early Tang Dynasty (618 - 712)




Prosperous Tang Period (712 - 781)





........................ Musician Bodhisattvas






Later Tang Dynasty (848 - 907)




Northern Sung (Song) Dynasty (960 - 1036)



Photos taken from the following book:
Tonko Bunbutsu Kenkyujo Hen;
Kanshu Chugoku Sekkutsu Tonko Bakkookutsu Henshu Iinkai.
Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1980-1982
( Chinese Cave Temple Series: The Mogao Caves at Dunhuang)

oo oo oo oo oo

Further reading in the Daruma Library

Apsaras and Musical Instruments, by Chen Lin


DUNHUANG STUDIES - by Prof. Ning Qiang
with more photos

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The musical instruments shown with these apsaras are now revived in China and used in orchestras.
Here is a group with its instruments.
敦煌古楽器アンサンブル　Tonko Ko Gakki Ensamble
http://www.chugei.com/tonkou/index.html

More LINKS with photos from the caves

http://www.pluto.dti.ne.jp/~kennyko/SILKROAD/MOGAO_D5_06.html

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Tonko　敦煌 Dunhuang

More photos from my trip to Dunhuang

Photos from my Trip to Seian and the Gobi Desert

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Mystical Bird (Karyōbinga), 葛飾北斎 Katsushika Hokusai



Karyōbinga 迦陵頻伽 (Karyobinga) Skt. = Kalavinka
Celestial beings who play music, dance, and fly through the air. They appear in many forms, often with bird’s body and angelic head, and are sometimes associated with Amida Nyorai. They appear often in Buddhist paintings, ritual robes, murals, and temple decorations.

Celestial Maidens : Look at many more photos and
read Mark Schumacher.
Mark will tell you all the necessary information about this subject.

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I dedicate this page to Prof. Dietrich Seckel
my professor of East-Asian Art at Heidelberg University.
He told us about Dunhuang and the apsaras with so much enthusiasm, that it has since then been my wish to see them for myself.
Professor für Ostasiatische Kunstsgeschichte, Universität Heidelberg

Professor Seckel about the Apsaras

Heilige Gestalten stehen in der buddhistischen Theologie und Kunst selten alleine, vielmehr sind sie mit anderen, die mit ihnen einen gedanklichen und kultischen Zusammenhang haben, zu ikonographisch ziemlich feststehenden Gruppen verbunden.

Zu jedem Buddha gehört ein oder meist zwei Bodhisattvas, in der esoterischen Schule auch ein Vidyaaraaja; ferner gehört zu ihm eine Gruppe beschützender und eine Gruppe anbetender Wesen (anbetende oder Weihgaben darbringende Bodhisattvas (kuyoo bosatsu) ) oder Apsaras, d.h. engelartige Himmelswesen, Adoranten, Jünger.

... aber auch wenn göttliche oder halbgöttliche Wesen im Akt der Verehrung erscheinen, wie vor allem die Apsaras, werden sie in oft lebhafter, anmutig schwebender, fliegender, tänzerischer Bewegung gezeigt; und zwar treten solche Bewegungen geschichtlich sehr früh auf - nämlich schon in der Wei- und Suiko-Zeit.

... engelartige (doch mit den alttestamentlichen oder christlichen Engeln gar nicht vergleichbare) Bodhisattvas, die zur Verehrung (puja, puuja) eines Buddha herbeischweben und ihm Blumen, Weihrauch, Musik und Tanz als Weihgaben darbringen.
Sie und die ihnen ähnlichen Apsaras werden oft recht unpräzise als "fliegende Himmelswesen", "heavenly beings" und dergleichen bezeichnet.

Quoted from
Buddhistische Kunst Ostasiens
Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1957


Buddha Statues, Who is Who, by Gabi Greve
Reviewed by Prof. Seckel

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Hindu Mythology

The Apsaras are female spirits of nature. Thye are usually water nymphs or forest spirits. They are considered very talented artistically, and all of them are described as being very beautiful. Apsaras love to dance and they often performed for gods.
While serving as inspiration for lovers, they were often sent by Ravana to tempt rishis or Brahmans who were retreating into the forest.
http://www.siamese-dream.com/reference/apsaras.html

Read more about Music of India and Haiku


snowflakes -
the heavenly crowds
descending


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A Comment from Chris Cochrane
February 2006

Though the term "apsara" is not used, the heaven-flying maiden is the figure seen in Japanese paintings of the maiden Hagoromo-- (the maiden of the Feather Mantle). She flys over Mt. Fuji dropping feathers; these paintings are displayed at New Year's season.



The story of the bird maiden goes back to an 8th century collection of provincial topographies _Fudoki_ (source: http://www.shermanleeinstitute.org/exhibition-spring05.html). A group of birds changes into maidens to bathe in a lake. A man steals the feather robe (hagoromo) of the youngest, forcing her to marry him. After many years, she retrieves her gown and returns to the skies, leaving her husband and their children behind.

The later noh drama _Hagoromo_ tells of a fisherman who discovers the feather mantle of a heavenly maiden. The maiden asks him to return the garment to her. When he does, she rises into the sky dancing evocatively.

Feathers allude to good fortune (the return of a feathered "bat (homonym for luck)/birdie" in a paddle game) and perhaps to depiction of spirits descending through a natural object object (_yorishiro_ in Shinto belief), not unlike spirits descending to color the leaves from top to bottom in autumn as heaven's spirit descends to the dusty world in the Noh drama _Tatsuta_.



The dance of the maiden of the Feather Mantle is also replicated by the character of the Chinese historical beauty Yang Keui-fei (name changed) in the Noh drama _Yokihi_.

The International Shakuhachi website www.komuso.com/pieces/Hagoromo_no_Kyoku.html references this maiden. It includes the text of a poem set to koto music and notes: "One of the most profound of the kumi-uta that are classified into the deep interior (oku) category of the koto music repertoire (1), this song cycle 'Hagoromo no kyoku' ('Celestial Robes') is played frequently as part of the first musical event of the New Year Hikizome, a traditional ceremony that accompanies the First Reading, the First Writing and other ceremonies that begin the New Year in Japan."

2 photos are © by Chris Cochrane

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source : www.threehares.net/


Mogao caves–
the hare with amber eyes
curls itself a timepiece



Triple hare symbols have been found at the caves.

Alan Summers

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. Kikaku, Takarai Kikaku 宝井其角 Enomoto Kikaku (1661-1707) .

Enoshima Island 榎島

花風や天女負れて歩渡り
hanakaze ya tennyo owarete kachi-watari

blossoms in the wind --
a heavenly woman rides high
across the shallows
Tr. and comment : Chris Drake

Many different characters were used to write Enoshima. I think "heavenly woman" (tennyo) must refer to Benzaiten, an Indian female god associated with Buddhism who governs artistic ability, eloquence, knowledge, water, the ocean, and wealth. There is a famous shrine to her on Enoshima Island, not far from Edo. Benzaiten or, more commonly, Benten was worshiped by many Edo people, who often made pilgrimages to Enoshima Island, especially in spring. One of the two statues of Benten on the island is very famous and shows her playing a lute (biwa) naked. Benten is often referred to as a heavenly woman, and she is also represented by three Shinto gods, all sisters, so there were/are actually four heavenly women on the island -- and no male gods.

The meaning of the hokku is a little difficult, so this is just a first guess. The first line refers to the wind blowing cherry blossoms on the island and onto the sea around it. The last line seems to refer to walking to or from Enoshima Island across a narrow ridge in the shore that at low tide connects the shore with the island but at high tide is covered. The verb kachi-wataru (written both 徒渡る and 歩渡る) means to ford or wade through shallow water up to about two feet high, usually in order to cross a stream or shallow river.

As for the heavenly woman, I wonder if Kikaku isn't using the term metaphorically while at the same time referring to Benten. Perhaps the tide has started to rise, covering the natural walkway between the island and the shore, and one woman pilgrim in beautiful spring robes has hired a porter to carry her back to the mainland through the shallow water now covering the same ridge of sandy land she walked on earlier to get to the island. Or perhaps the women is traveling with a man, and now he carries her on his shoulders across the shallow water between the island and mainland at high tide.

To Kikaku the woman must look very beautiful, since he her calls her a heavenly woman. Or perhaps, a bit like the naked Benten statue, the woman has pulled up her robes so they won't get ruined by the salt water and parts of her thighs are now showing. At the same time, the blossoms scattering in the wind make the woman on the man's shoulders look a bit as if she were flying through the air like a heavenly being. I translate "carried" as "rides high," since I think Kikaku is suggesting a semi-flying image of the semi-heavenly woman. (Or there might be several women being carried/riding across, since number isn't marked here.)

Chris Drake

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source :　Hitoshi on facebook

at 高野山 Mount Koya

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