Japanese dolls displayed on and before Girls' Day (March 3) also called Peach Blossom festival
I saw this first display in our hotel lobby, which is how I knew this was the time of year to see these dolls. On the top tier sit the Emperor and Empress; below them 3 ladies of the court.
This set was in a children's museum. They served tiny cups of "lemonade" and tiny (approx 3/4" square) rice cookies to groups of children.
Two of the five musicians in the 3rd row above. One has a flute and the other is a singer as represented by her fan. Below them sit two court protectors - an old man and a young man. You can just see the head of the old man here.
This fellow sits in the middle of the row below the protectors. His neighbor to the left holds a rake and to the right a broom, but I can't tell what this guy is doing or holding.
This set was in a temple and was combined with a show of bonsai plum trees. They charged admission for this.
Each set usually consists of the Emperor, Empress and various members of the court, but the dolls in this set seem to represent other people (sort of like the santons in a French nativity, I guess).
I also found a shop selling these dolls. The ones below were photographed in the shop. Some show the prices. As far as I could tell the price was for the entire set shown, including various accessories. To get American dollars divide by 100. These sets ranged in price from around $1,000 to $3,000 dollars.
I believe the red price is the sale price, while the black one would be the regular price.
Here's a close-up of the Empress in the set above.
If you would like to read more about these dolls and the festival take a look at these web sites.
Or return to one of my other pages.
