Collecting vs. Mottainai (Mini Hina Doll Set - Attendant)

I'm not sure if my sister remembered to put her set out this year. I'll have to ask her about it. She's two years younger than me and lives with her husband in Berkeley, CA.

She's actually more of a collector than I am. We come from a family of packrats. I guess it comes from both of my parents being from large families that didn't have a lot of money.

I hate to throw anything away, and tend to hold on to things I think I can use again or that holds any special significance or symbolism. There's definitely some functional capacity to everything. We grew up hearing the phrase "mottainai" a lot.

I think my sister follows in the hobbies of my mom and the uncle that grew up with us with their collections. They always collected types of things (stamps, coins, little souvenir dishes, golf balls, etc).
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This is one of the three female attendant figures from a miniature ceramic hina ningyo set. They sit in front of the emperor and empress figures, which you can vaguely see in the background. She's holding a container in her hands.

Click here to see the entire set

My Hina-ningyo set (Miniature Ceramic Hina Doll Set)

I remembered to put out my Hina-ningyo set this year. Since we just moved a couple of months ago, I knew exactly where it was in the storage room.

This particular set is a miniature ceramic set with 10 figures. It's very compact and easy to transport. My mother purchased identical sets for me and my sister. She has always tried to be fair to us all of our lives, giving us exactly the same or equivalent of gifts. Consequently, my sister and I have a lot of very similar things, many times just in different colors.
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This is a miniature ceramic hina-ningyo set. Each doll is only about 1-1/2" high. The entire set fits into a 11" x 11" square wooden box that acts as a base/stand to display the set during hinamatsuri. There is a very nice outer white cardboard box with a pastel pink lid that protects it while not in use.

This set includes 10 figures - one emperor doll, one empress doll, 3 female attendants, and 5 musicians. They sit on a 10" x 10" piece of red felt. There's a 6" x 3" decorated plastic stand for the emperor & empress so that they're slightly elevated above the rest of the figures. There's also a decorated cardboard screen that you put behind the emperor & empress. Then, there are various accessories such as lanterns, plants, and hishimochi.

The set also comes with an illustration that shows you how each piece should be positioned.

Click on these links to see close-up views: emperor & empress, female attendant,and taiko player.

Convenient miniatures (Mini Hina Doll Set - Emperor & Empress dolls)

The sets are very convenient because they don't take up much space (which was ideal because both my sister and I were living in 1-bedroom apartments at the time).

This part features the Emperor & Empress dolls on a base that's just 6" wide x 3" long.
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This is the emperor and empress dolls from a miniature ceramic hina ningyo set. They are sitting on top of a plastic base that elevates them from the rest of the figures.

Behind them is a cardboard screen with a golden background and a colorful fan. In front of them are representations of hishi mochi - diamond shaped rice cakes with pink, green, and white layers. There are little lanterns on the side.

Click here to see the entire set

Adapting traditions (Ceramic Japanese girl doll w/flowers)

My parents are very resourceful and adaptive. We didn't have a full hina-ningyo set so they displayed what we did have for hinamatsuri. In addition to the Emperor & Empress doll set, we also brought this girl doll out every year. Although not a traditional hina-ningyo, it was treasured and carefully displayed along with the others.
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Ceramic doll figure of a young Japanese woman in a festive, colorful kimono and hat holding a stem of flowers. Her face and body are white with features painted on.

Her hat is flat, but rounded. The details are painted on. The fabric of the kimono is vibrantly colored.

Click here to view a close-up of her face

Bringing Japanese culture to America (Hina Doll Set - Empress doll)

My mother was born in the United States but grew up in Japan from the time she was two, so her first language and primary culture is Japanese. When she came back to the United States and eventually started her family, she imparted on her daughters many of the traditions she brought with her from Japan.
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This is a close-up of an Empress doll from a hina-ningyo set. Although it's a little hard to see against the background, you can see her hairdo. You can also see details of her face, clothes, headdress, and fan.

Click here to see the entire hina doll set

Comforting traditions (Hina Doll Set - Emperor doll)

I suppose part of what's so great about observing cultural traditions is that it's comforting knowing that you're connected to something larger than yourself...and for those who are living far from where they're originally from, it's a way to feel connected to home.
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This is a close-up of an Emperor doll from a hina-ningyo set. Although it's a little hard to see against the background, you can see his hat. You can also see details of his face and his clothes.

Click here to see the entire hina doll set

Our family hina-ningyo (Hina Doll Set - Emperor & Empress)

For example, this is the hina-ningyo set that my mother has brought out for hinamatsuri each year for as long as I can remember. She still brings them out even though my sister and I have not lived with my parents for years now.

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This is my family's hina doll set for hinamatsuri. It's not a full set, but includes just the emperor and empress dolls in a glass case. I photographed them without the case here so that I didn't have to deal with glare or reflections.

Both of the dolls sit on colorful little platforms. Only the top and front are actually decorated. Both have white faces with painted features and are wearing kimonos and hats. They each are carrying a fan.

Learn more about hinamatsuri at the Museum Store Online: Hinamatsuri in the United States.

Click on these links to see close-ups of the emperor and empress dolls.

Passing on traditions (Ceramic Japanese girl figure w/lantern)

This was another doll that we grew up seeing. It was a gift from one of my uncles (the one I mentioned earlier) presented when I was born.

My mother still has this at her house. I guess someday it'll come to live with me. I'm not sure what will happen to the others. Perhaps it will be decided when/if my sister and I have daughters of our own. For now, my parents are the keepers...
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This ceramic doll figure has a glass case, but I took it out to take the photograph. It was given to me by my uncle after I was born (so, it's over 35 years old).

There's a little stick at the bottom of it that fits into a hole in the platform so that it stands upright despite being mostly top-heavy.

The details were carefully hand-painted on. The doll shows a young Japanese girl holding a lantern looking questioningly upward.

Click here to see a detail