LIHU‘E — The third day of the third month is celebrated as Girls’ Day, or Hinamatsuri in the Orient, and in preparation for the gala celebration tomorrow, Wednesday, March 3, the Kauai Japanese Cultural Society hosted a special Kodomo no hi (Children’s Day) celebration Saturday at Kukui Grove Center.
Entertainment included presentations by various folk-dance (minyo) clubs from around the island, as well as a special performance by members of the Waimea High School Japanese Club.
Taking advantage of a rained-out Kauai Interscholastic Federation tennis match Saturday, Sara Nonaka picked up her flute instead of a tennis racket, as she joined Robyn Nakata and Kristy Kurokawa to form a musical ensemble that performed “Sakura” and “Haru ga kita,” while other members of the school group danced and sang the popular Japanese numbers.
Also on hand, members of the Kauai Bonsai Club held a special exhibition and demonstration in conjunction with the Oriental celebration.
Tando Sivanathan was one of the members who had several specimens on display utilizing the different styles of bonsai, and Ron O’Brien, one of the younger members of the club, was the focus of attention by patrons admiring his work.
O’Brien, who has about a dozen working projects at home, had only one specimen on display, a juniper utilizing the moyogi style of bonsai.
This display showed a miniature juniper 15 years old in an attractive container atop a pedestal, patrons noting that the specimen was older than its exhibitor.
As an incentive for joining the popular organization, members joked that it was a means of getting material for starting bonsai, as club leaders encourage new people to take up the artform.
The slate of entertainment, karaoke, and dance is only a preview of the Girls Day celebration which occurs on Wednesday, March 3.
“Hinamatsuri,” the term used in the Orient, is also called “Momo no sekku” (“Peach Festival”), because of the peach-blossom season on the old lunar calendar.
Kodomo no hi (Children’s Day) falls on May 5 (the fifth day of the fifth month), is also called “Boys’ Festival,” and is a national holiday in Japan, while Hinamatsuri is not.
Families with girls display “hina ningyo” (ornamental figurines) and peach blossoms while praying for young girls’ growth and happiness.
The figurines are usually arranged on a five- or seven-tiered stand covered with a red carpet. At the top of the display are the emperor and empress, followed on the next level down by three court ladies (sannin kanjo), followed by five musicians (gonin bayashi), two ministers (udaijin and sadaijin), and three servants ending on the bottom row.
The dolls wear court costumes of the Heian Period (794-1185 A.D.).
Special dishes enjoyed for Hinamatsuri include hisimochi, or diamond-shaped rice cakes colored red (or pink), white, and green.
The red is for chasing evil spirits away, the white symbolizes purity, and the green wishes good health.
The origin of Hinamatsuri dates back to an ancient Chinese practice in which the sin of the body and misfortune are transferred to a doll, then removed by abandoning the doll on a river.
A custom called “hina okuri,” or “nagashi bina,” still exists, where people float paper dolls down rivers late on the afternoon of March 3.
There is also a superstition that if you don’t put away the hina ningyo soon after March 3, the daughter(s) will get married late.
Sports Editor Dennis Fujimoto may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or mailto:dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
