Delayed Doll Festival

A hina doll display under a kamidana
So I was a bit late.

Yesterday, I put Mayuki’s Hina Dolls up. You’re supposed to put them up some time in February, and take them down by March 3rd. However, regular readers of this blog may be able to remember why that wasn’t a very good time for us to put the dolls up. What’s more, there wasn’t really space in the old flat; we had to move the electric piano and television. So, they stayed in their boxes for a while.

However, I didn’t think it was a good idea for them to stay in the boxes all year round. For a start, it’s a real shame to not get them out; they only come out once a year in any case. Added to that, I don’t think it would be good for them to be in the boxes for two years. The damp could well get to them; last year the dolls had a bit of mould on their hair, so I took the box out and aired them three times over the course of the year, which seems to have worked. So, they’re out so that we can enjoy them, and so that they will stay in good condition.

I’ve put them up in the Japanese room, under the kamidana, and it’s a nice combination. Very, very Japanese, don’t you think. According to Japanese superstition, if you don’t put the dolls away by March 3rd, your daughter will marry late. I don’t know what this lateness means.


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