Hina Matsuri

In the Japanese Garden dolls were displayed for Hina Matsuri, which is today - we took out set of dolls as well :)
Our book about Japanese Celebrations talks about is and shows how to fold paper dolls (hina).

In Portland we learned that the doll festival goes back to the 7th century, and original was not only for girls, but for everyone. Paper dolls were made and then rubbed over the body and then thrown into a stream or creek to get rid of evil spirits for the coming year. 900 years ago bamboo figures were used and during the 1300-1500 finally the figures (a man and a woman) were made so beautifully, that people would not throw them into creeks any longer. During the Edo period the dolls became the most fanciest (and largest!) with glass eyes, tongues, silk hair etc. The merchant class become richer and and dolls were associate with noble men and women and the shelves displaying them took over whole rooms! In 1721 the emperor decided this is too much and limited the size of the dolls and the amount of shelves to be used by law. During the Miji Restoration the government started using the festival to educate children, especially girls to teach them gentility, loyalty and restraint. Hina Matsuri become a model of happy family life and virtues of woman hood. A legend arose that girls that wouldn't pack the dolls away in a timely manner after the festival would not find husbands.

There is still a temple in Kyoto, where one can bring old dolls and they are burnt once a year to set free their spirit. The kami of a doll wanders the temple and protects it from fire.