SHARING JAPANESE TRADITION OF DOLLS
Methodist church in Arvada has exhibits, origami, tea ceremony, dancing, music
The Japanese family tradition of honoring daughters with dolls on March 3 is being shared by Arvada’s Simpson United Methodist Church at its Hina Matsuri Doll Festival, now in its 50th year. »
ARVADA» Every year on March 3, Japanese families with daughters display their dolls on a special step altar — traditionally with an emperor and empress at the very top and the rest of the court on a tiered display.
On Saturday, for the 50th year, the Simpson United Methodist Church joined in the Japanese tradition of Hina Matsuri (Girl’s Day) and Kodomo no Hi (Children’s Day) at its Hina Matsuri Doll Festival.
According to Kazuko Dishong, who was helping at the event, it was once common for the Japanese to cut a piece of paper into the shape of a person and throw it into the river because it was believed that water would purify the body and get rid of bad luck.
Nowadays, the Japanese use the dolls to represent purity and good luck for their daughters.
“When a girl is born, she is celebrated,” Dishong said. “You still need to celebrate the girl. It’s a celebration of the birth of the baby and of the baby growing up. You hope you have good luck and have no bad luck coming. That’s the most important thing for parents when they have a girl.”
Families would traditionally join their daughters in setting up the altar for the dolls in a quiet room in the home — days or even a month before the celebration. After carefully placing each doll in its place, girls would invite their friends to come and see the dolls and enjoy something sweet to eat.
“We would get together, play games and have little refreshments,” said Ritsuko Munn, 86, born in Japan and now living in Aurora.
One of the most popular exhibits of the event featured hundreds of Japanese dolls, ranging from about an inch to a foot tall. All wore elegant, differently colored kimonos.
“This event is fantastic,” said Aurora resident Fay Hamelin. “It’s wonderful that they’re bringing the dolls so that people could see the history and culture. It’s very educational for the community.”
Hamelin was also happy that it was an event that appealed to people of all ages. Children and elders came not only to see the doll exhibit, but also to enjoy many other activities such as a calligraphy stand where people could get their name written in Japanese.
The event also offers origami, a tea ceremony, bonsai, traditional Japanese dancing and music, and martial arts.
“We love it,” said Carol Rieger of Aurora. “I’ve been coming to this event for 29 years, and it never disappoints. The craftsmanship is incredible. It’s not just the dolls, it’s the cultural aspect. We don’t have anything like this in the United States.”
The event continues Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The church is at 6001 Wolf St.