The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-29
FESTIVAL OF DOLLS BY LAPS
r." IS CALLED THE EINA SA-
 MA.
The Day Of All tho Year for Little Jap-
anese Girls.

amese Girls.
 This is the month to which little Ja-
 panese girls look forward longingly all
 through the other months of the calen-
 dar In Japan, as in other oriental
 countries girls do not cut much of g.
 figure in domestic calculations, but in
 March comes the little Japanese girls
 day of days, her one great festival
 which even the most pampered little
 maid of western lands might well envy
 her. The festival of the Q Hina Sama,
 the doll festival, takes place on March
 3, but for two weeks before that date
 the doll fair is going on, and there is
 excited bargaining along the streets
 where the honorable little people, are
 sold. In Kioto the fair and festival are
 particularly fine, but in Tokio, too, the
 celebration goes on gayly, and it is said
 that about twenty thousand dollars
 worth of dolls and doll accessories were
 sold on the street of the Ten Houses,
 the fair street, during the last festival.
 The dark little shops are given over
 entirely to the o Hina Sama and their
 goods. These are no ordinary doll
 shops, and no common dolls, such as
 are used all the year round, are found
 here. The honorable little people in
 clude only the emperor and empress and their court, maids of honor, guards,
 courtiers, soldiers, musicians, servants.
 With them are sold cunningly fash
 toned furniture of lacquer, inlaid, deco rated with metal, chests of drawers, bridal furniture, sewing and cooking utensils, braZiers, toilet articles, brides
 trunks etc, and there are also artifi- ciaI flowers and trees for decorating the royal gardens.
 There are said to be in Tohio only about twenty doll-makers who devote themselves to the making of the Hina, and their skill is necessarily much greater than that of any ordinary toy maker, for, though there are varying grades of Hina, the best of them are exquisitely made. They are not sold at all during the year save in the two weeks preceding the festival, but the enormous sale then makes up for the lack of market at other times. Each gay little figure or group of figures is in white wooden box without front, and these boxes are piled upon one an- other, tier upon tier, from floor to ceil- ing, around the walls of the shops.
 The lucky girl is she who has the most complete outfit of Hina, and oh the longings and the heartburnings to which the miniature courts give rise! In the noble families there are Hina herlooms of priceless value, for the o Hina Sama is a very ancient festival, and the old families have celebrated it through century after century, so their little daughters have a glorious heri- tage of Hina and can make marvellous display when the great day comes around.
 The more modern families with mon | ey to spend-for Japan has its newly l rich-must content themselves with | buying the most complete and elaborate modern Hina to be found, and very l fair display can be made at an expen- allure of two or three hundred dollars, | though the modern workmanship does | not compare favorably with the exqui- site art of earlier times. Tn poorer families the doll show corresponds to- the family income and many little girls cannot afford a gorgeous emperor and | empress at all, but have pictures to | represent the imperial couple, and dolls for only the lesser court figures. That family is poor indeed that will not, on the festival day, buy for the little daughter at least one toy to add to her Hina show.
 Before the day of the o Hina Sama there is a stir in all households blest with daughters. Boxes of dolls and doll furniture are taken from the ware houses where valuables are stored, or ov IoI bioh eha Or ] dug out from great chests. In each house a room is set aside for the Hina, The little girls themselves must cook the food for the doll feast, though this rule is often broken and mothers or ser wants prepare the special cakes, and rice cooked with sugar and sweet wine, drunk by children only at this time. The food and drink are set out before the dolls, and the little girls arrayed in their best ceremonial dress sit down to receive their friends and relatives who come to pay their respects to the Hina ] and share the feast. The guests are { welcomed formally and told with all humility, that they must not expect much, that the Hina of the family are { not worthy of admiration. Then after { the Japanese play of mock depreciation { is finished the guest is led into the Hina { room, where he is expected to go into + ecstasies of admiration. It isn't hard for western traveller { unfamiliar with the festival to pump f up the requisite enthusiasm: for, par z ticularly if he is lucky enough to obtain { entrance to noble household, the dolls l will be well worth seeing and will 1 throw many interesting side lights on | the coudt of old Japan and it's obso- t lete customs. Ordinarily the Hina are f arranged upon a platform running across one end of the room and having | at one side tiers of steps, On the plat t form is miniature palace, more or less ornate and elaborate, set round with | artificial cherry and plum trees in blos- Il som, and on the tiers of steps are ar n 'anged the dolls. A recent traveller told of a Hina dis s olay to which she was invited, which vas only moderately elaborate. On the u op step sat in state the emperor and impress, under purple canopy Both q were gorgeous inn rich brocades and ewels, and the faces of the dolls were beautifully nodded and painted, that of :, he empress showing plainly that the -