LIHU‘E — Tuesday, March 3 is Girls’ Day, a time for wishing health and well-being for women — especially young girls. The tradition was brought to Hawai‘i by the Japanese and Okinawa people who arrived to work on the plantations more than a century ago.
Kukui Grove Center, in partnership with the Kaua‘i Japanese Cultural Society, brought the festivities to life Saturday with its annual Hinamatsuri, or Doll Festival, with a cultural celebration featuring taiko, bonsai exhibits and demonstrations, a variety of traditional dance, hands-on activities presented by the Kaua‘i High School and Kapa‘a High School Japanese clubs, and highlighted by a medley of bon dance odori.
Chisa Ikai from the Kaua‘i High School Japanese Club was garbed in the traditional kimono as she helped young children’s hands create an assortment of origami, or paper-folding items, including the familiar tsuru that has become symbolic of peace based on the story of a young girl who perished at 12 years old after becoming ill from the effects of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.
Origami is significant in the Girls’ Day festivities because in the traditional
origins of the celebration from the Shinto purification ritual, young girls made origami dolls. By breathing on these paper figures, rubbing them against their bodies, and finally throwing them into the river, the belief was girls could rid themselves of impurities.
Dolls are also the key to Girls’ Day festivities, which has the name Hinamatsuri, or Doll Festival. Traditional festivities have families putting out elaborate displays of dolls which are often featured with musical instruments, brocade silk and tiny, intricate fans.
These dolls are set up a week before Hinamatsuri, and according to sayings, are removed by March 3 to ensure a suitable husband for the young lady.
Over at the table shared by the Kapa‘a High School Japanese Club, students served up sushi, a celebratory food enjoyed by guests who are invited into homes during Girls Day.
Other participants indulged in Japanese cuisine like nishime, mochiko chicken, and even the bento box lunch reminiscent of the Lihu‘e Delicatessan days.
Happy Girls’ Day, Kaua‘i — be sure to indulge in hishi mochi, a diamond-shaped rice cake colored red, white and green, to symbolize cherry blossoms, snow and fertility, respectively. In the absence of hishi mochi, people indulge in the more-familiar pink mochi.
A similar celebration for boys takes place on May 5, but has been changed to become a Children’s Day celebration.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
