Point of interest: 雛祭り（ひなまつり）

The origins of the 雛人形 date back thousands of years to a custom that originally began in China as a means of ridding oneself of bad luck and evil spirits. A paper or straw ひな is rubbed over one's body, transferring the evil to it, and then put on a boat and floated out to sea. One of the largest celebrations of this custom, known as

ながしひな

流し雛

, 'floating dolls', used to be put on by the Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto at the junction of the two main rivers, the Takano and Kamo, but is now held out at sea due to problems with the dolls getting caught in fishing nets.

The 雛壇 are multi-tiered platforms covered in brightly colored red carpet. In a typical household dolls are placed on up to seven levels, but in some elaborate examples they can cover hundreds of steps of a temple staircase! Dolls on each level represent different court members from the

へいあん

平安

じだい

時代

, the Heian Era, starting with the Emperor, Empress, and then various attendants and musicians. All the dolls wear traditional court dress of the Heian Era - elaborate multi-layered kimono called

じゅうにひとえ

十二単

for women, and

そくたい

束帯

for males.

The Heian Era (literally 'peace era') of Japanese history, which began in 794 and lasted almost 200 years, is considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and was a period in which poetry and literature flourished. The capital of Japan was moved to

へいあんきょう

平安京

, which became modern day

きょうと

京都

, Kyoto, and remained there for almost 1000 years, until the

めいじ

明治

いしん

維新

, the Meiji restoration, in 1868, which was the beginning of modern Japan.

ひな

雛

is a Jinmeiyō kanji, i.e. it is used in names (such as the girl's name ひな) - in total it appears in over 100 Japanese names. It has a frequency of 2357, which makes it less common than (most of) the 2136 Jōyō kanji, but more common than most of the kanji used only in names. It actually means 'chick' (as in, baby bird), and is composed of the two components 隹 and 芻. 隹 is a very common component meaning 'little bird' - it is used as

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part of 104 kanji

. 芻 is a much less common component meaning 'mow (grass etc.)'. 芻 makes more sense when you see it is composed of two more basic elements, both very common - 勹 meaning 'wrap' and 屮 meaning 'sprout'. Putting these components together, we have the Kanshudo mnemonic for 雛: 'you mow the grass (芻) for the little bird (隹) as it's just a chick'.

雛祭り is also a great opportunity to sample some colorful and tasty traditional Japanese dishes, in particular ちらし

ずし

寿司

, chirashizushi (a mix of vegetables, egg and seafood scattered on top of sushi rice),

わがし

和菓子

Japanese cakes and desserts, in particular the three-colored

ひしもち

菱餅

, hishimochi.