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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311/mailto:/?subject=Japan%27s%20traditional%20%27hina%27%20dolls%20tell%20unique%20stories&body=Here%20is%20something%20from%20Nikkei%20Asian%20Review%20that%20might%20interest%20you%3A%0D%0AJapan%27s%20traditional%20%27hina%27%20dolls%20tell%20unique%20stories%0D%0Ahttp://s.nikkei.com/1TRcV3n">Mail</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="article-box"> <div class="detail"> <div class="feature-article"> <div class="date-area">March 2, 2016 7:00 pm JST</div> <h1 class="title">Japan's traditional 'hina' dolls tell unique stories</h1> <p>KENTARO IWAMOTO, Nikkei staff writer</p> </div> <img src="/web/20160505075311im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201603/20160302/20160302_hina1/4138299-1-eng-GB/20160302_hina1_article_main_image.jpg" width="580" alt=""/> <p class="img-caption"> Hina dolls are set in tiers on a stage in Konosu, Japan. </p> </div> </div> <div class="article-box detail"> <div class="wysiwyg_area"> <div class="articleBodyText"> <p>KONOSU, SAITAMA -- Japanese people traditionally celebrate the birth of a girl and wish for her health on March 3 every year, typically by displaying decorated <i>hina</i> (dolls in classic dress) on a red stage in their homes. Recently, in the weeks leading up to the day, many local regions hold hina doll events to attract tourists. Some set dolls along main streets, while others display hundreds or even thousands together on a steep, stairlike stand.</p><div class="object-left"> <div class="object-left fb"> <div class="object-left"> <div class="js_enlarge"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="mwTrg" alt="zoom_105865"> <div class="image-side"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201603/20160302/20160302_hina2/4138310-1-eng-GB/20160302_hina2_middle_280.jpg" alt="" class=""><p class="date-area img-caption"> A hina doll event featuring a 7-meter-high pyramid stage is held at a mall in Konosu, Japan. </p> </div> </a> </div> <div class="modal-zoom" id="zoom_105865"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="js_close fb">Close</a> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201603/20160302/20160302_hina2/4138310-1-eng-GB/20160302_hina2_article_main_image.jpg" alt="" class=""><p class="date-area"> A hina doll event featuring a 7-meter-high pyramid stage is held at a mall in Konosu, Japan. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div><p>     One of the towns that is becoming famous for its hina doll festival is Konosu, a city located one hour north of Tokyo. In the 1700s, when the capital was developing under the shogunate, Konosu welcomed doll craftsmen to work in the city. These artisans contributed to creating the popular culture surrounding the dolls. </p><div class="page_limit free"></div><div class="page_limit"></div><p>     The highlight of Konosu's festival is the "pyramid hina stage" that displays roughly 1,800 dolls on the 31 steps of a 7-meter-high, pyramid-shaped red stage that towers in an open space of a local shopping mall. The festival organizer said it is the tallest hina pyramid in Japan. Notably, all of the dolls are donated by about 250 families from across the country. </p><p>     Next to the pyramid are two message boards with comments from people who donated the dolls. One said, "Every year, we celebrated our two daughters' births and wished for their health by means of the dolls." Another said, "My dolls traveled across Japan with our relocations." A woman in her 70s wrote this message: "When I was 40, my 18-year-old son, who started his first job in the previous year, presented the dolls to me!"</p><div class="object-right"> <div class="object-right fb"> <div class="object-right"> <div class="js_enlarge"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="mwTrg" alt="zoom_105867"> <div class="image-side"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201603/20160302/20160302_hina4/4138363-1-eng-GB/20160302_hina4_small_150.jpg" alt="" class=""><p class="date-area img-caption"> A typical hina doll </p> </div> </a> </div> <div class="modal-zoom" id="zoom_105867"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="js_close fb">Close</a> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201603/20160302/20160302_hina4/4138363-1-eng-GB/20160302_hina4_article_main_image.jpg" alt="" class=""><p class="date-area"> A typical hina doll </p> </div> </div> </div> </div><p>     "Every doll has its own story," said Keiji Nomoto, one of the volunteers who organized the event. But if you read the messages one by one, quite a few of them have a similar theme: "Gradually, we displayed the dolls less frequently."</p><p>     Many local communities hold such events in the hope of preventing the hina doll culture from fading. "As Japanese people have been having less children, the demand for dolls also has been declining," said Shingo Sekiguchi, a 57-year-old doll craftsman based in Konosu. The number of girls born in Japan in 2014 was 488,066, which is a 33% decline from 30 years ago. In addition, because houses have generally been getting smaller in Japanese cities, young people are not inclined to display a space-consuming hina stage in their homes. </p><div class="object-left"> <div class="object-left fb"> <div class="object-left"> <div class="js_enlarge"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="mwTrg" alt="zoom_105871"> <div class="image-side"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201603/20160302/20160301femalebirth/4138467-1-eng-GB/20160301FemaleBirth_middle_280.png" alt="" class=""><p class="date-area img-caption"></p> </div> </a> </div> <div class="modal-zoom" id="zoom_105871"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="js_close fb">Close</a> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201603/20160302/20160301femalebirth/4138467-1-eng-GB/20160301FemaleBirth_article_main_image.png" alt="" class=""></div> </div> </div> </div><p>     There were about 30 companies in Konosu working in the hina doll industry in the late 1800s. However, according to Sekiguchi, only seven are left, and some of them do not even make dolls anymore. He said, "Due to a decline in sales, doll producers in Konosu closed their businesses one by one."</p><p>     Along with the pyramid event, Konosu's doll industry promotes hina doll culture through other means, for example, by displaying dolls at an exhibition held in a renovated classic Japanese warehouse as a tourist attraction. This year, Sekiguchi created a doll modeled on a historical female figure from a popular TV history drama to appeal to a wider range of consumers. "We have to enlighten people who are not familiar with hina dolls," Sekiguchi said about his attempts to revitalize the tradition. </p><p> </p><div class="object-center"> <div class="object-center fb"> <div class="object-center"> <div class="js_enlarge"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="mwTrg" alt="zoom_105866"> <div class="image-side"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201603/20160302/20160302_hina3/4138321-1-eng-GB/20160302_hina3_middle_320.jpg" alt="" class=""><p class="date-area img-caption"> Hina dolls are displayed in a renovated warehouse. </p> </div> </a> </div> <div class="modal-zoom" id="zoom_105866"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="js_close fb">Close</a> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201603/20160302/20160302_hina3/4138321-1-eng-GB/20160302_hina3_article_main_image.jpg" alt="" class=""><p class="date-area"> Hina dolls are displayed in a renovated warehouse. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="modal-screen_zoom"></div> </div> <div class="pagination no-border"></div> <div class="related-list"> <p class="related-header">Related stories</p> <ul class="point-list"> <li><a href="/web/20160505075311/http://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Life/Rubber-bands-become-popular-handicraft-material"><span class="sub-title-s">Japan trends: </span>Rubber bands become popular handicraft material</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20160505075311/http://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Arts/Maiko-represent-Japan-through-hospitality-performing-arts">'Maiko' represent Japan through hospitality, performing arts</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="OUTBRAIN" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311oe_/http://asia.nikkei.com/Japan-Update/Japan-s-traditional-hina-dolls-tell-unique-stories" data-widget-id="AR_1" data-ob-template="Nikkei_Asian_Review_EN"></div> <script type="text/javascript" async="async" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311js_/http://widgets.outbrain.com/outbrain.js"></script> <div class="link-box GCCMD_removeall">  <h2 class="title">Follow Nikkei Asian Review</h2> <div class="follow-nar"> <dl> <dt><div class="fb-like" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/nikkeiasianreview/" data-layout="button_count" data-action="like" data-show-faces="false" data-share="false"></div></dt> <dd class="Facebook">The best content posted</dd> <dt class="Twitter"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505075311/https://twitter.com/NAR" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false">Follow @NAR</a> </dt> <dd class="Twitter">The latest headlines tweeted</dd> </dl> </div> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript">  </script> <script type="text/javascript">  </script> <script>  </script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/web/20160505075311cs_/http://asia.nikkei.com/css/article_pagination_v001.css"/> <script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20160505075311js_/http://asia.nikkei.com/js/497390b.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">  </script> </div> <div class="secondary"> <div class="link-box "> <h5 class="title"><a href="/web/20160505075311/http://asia.nikkei.com/Latestheadlines">Latest headlines</a></h5> <ul class="headline-list"> <li> <a href="/web/20160505075311/http://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Equities/China-stock-slightly-up-but-trading-remains-light-on-growth-concerns">China stock slightly up but trading remains light on growth concerns</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20160505075311/http://asia.nikkei.com/Viewpoints/Viewpoints/Keith-B.-Richburg-US-looks-set-for-a-nasty-presidential-election"><span class="sub-title-s">Commentary: </span>Keith B. 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