Thanks for visiting our site!
Doll Japan
Checkout Ebay Auctions For The Cheapest Prices
 |
 FROM JAPAN JAPANESE SOSAKU KOKESHI DOLL SIGNED USABURO  US $10.00
|
 Mid Century Hina Doll Set from Japan, 7 dolls, over 50 accessories US $200.00
|
| Powered by phpBay Pro |
Here are some more information for Doll Japan:
Every March 3rd, the third day of the third month, is the day families all over Japan make a celebration for their daughter(s) so she may grow up healthy, happy, and beautiful. This special day is known as Japanese Girls' Day (Hina Matsuri). To make it even more special, it is also called the Japanese Doll Festival. Hina Matsuri became legally approved by the Japanese government in 1687.
The parents or grandparents of a newborn baby girl should present her with a set of intricately beautiful hina dolls at her first Hina Matsuri. These dolls are proudly passed down from generation to generation.
A few days prior to Hina Matsuri, mothers and daughters take these traditional dolls with all their accouterment (miniature furniture, etc.) and set up a display that may have as many as seven tiers. The tiers are covered with a red cloth or carpet.
Each tier has its own specified hina hierarchy.
Tier One:
The first tier (or top row) is reserved for two dolls, the Emperor and Empress. The Emperor carries the tool ladle to straighten dignity and the Empress wears many layers of colorful kimonos and holds a fan. A gold folding screen is, as a rule, placed in back of the royal couple.
Tier Two:
The second tier makes space for three ladies of the court, serving sake to the Emperor and Empress, as well as Japanese rice cakes.
Tier Three:
Five male musicians are placed on the third tier. Sometimes, the dolls are presented as four instrumentalists, holding traditional Japanese musical instruments such as a whistle, small drum, large drum, etc., plus one singer.
Tier Four:
The fourth tier holds two ministers. The Right Minister is made up to look like a young person while the Left Minister is a much older man. Each minister has arrows on his back while holding a bow and also wears a sword at the waist.
Tier Five:
The fifth tier contains three helpers whose job it is to keep the palace spotlessly clean. They have in their hands cleaning tools such as brooms, dustpans, and rakes.
The last one or two tiers give space to display miniature furniture such as dressing tables, workboxes, or a chest of drawers. There might be toy trees so fanciful they can be bedecked with semiprecious stones.
Japanese girls wear kimonos for Hina Matsuri. They often invite other girls to a home party to share in the celebration. Party food might consist of sushi, clam soup, sweet pink rice cakes, and colorful rice crackers. Pink stands for the peach flower (Hina Matsuri is sometimes called Momo-no-Sekku or festival of the flowers of the peach tree). White stands for cleanliness (snow) and green represents health (new growth in the earth). The girls also drink ama-zake, a rice wine with no alcoholic content.
It is a firmly believed superstition in Japan that the hina doll display must be put away as soon as possible after March 3rd or else the girl might have to wait to get married. Some believe there will be no marriage at all.
Centuries ago, people in Japan were of the solid opinion that the dolls had the power to contain evil. They would set straw hina dolls in a boat and send them off to sea, in the hope that trouble or evil would float away with them. Now, there is a show of ecological awareness; the hina are created with environmentally-friendly fish food. Also, there is a movement to prevent river pollution.
Serving Japanese cuisine? See Niftykitchen.com Sushi Accessories. Terry Kaufman is also Chief Editorial Writer for Niftygarden.com and Niftyhomebar.com.
©2008 Terry Kaufman.
The Bobblehead Doll - A Cultural Icon
The bobblehead doll is a type of doll with its head (which is often oversized in comparison to its body) connected to its body by a spring, so that tapping the doll will cause the head to wobble. This type of doll is also known as a 'bobbing head doll', 'wobbler', or 'nodder'. These dolls date back to ancient Japan and China, where they were made with flexible bamboo strips instead of springs. Today's dolls are more directly descended from German 'nodders' dating from the late 18th century, which were made from ceramic or bisque, and ranged in height from about 6 to 8 inches. These dolls were popular in America until around 1930, when interest in them started to fade.
Modern bobblehead dolls first appeared in the 1950s, and were initially made of papier-mache, and then from ceramic. Although the ceramic dolls were popular, they were fairly expensive, and were considered mainly collectors' items. Eventually, however, manufacturers started making the dolls from plastic, allowing for a cheaper manufacturing process, which made the dolls more affordable.
Early dolls were made to resemble animals and popular cultural characters, and were often used as advertising icons and automobile accessories (one very popular such doll was that of the dashboard 'hula girl'). Around 1960 Japanese-made papier-mache 'baseball' bobbleheads began to be imported into America. These early pieces were generic figures representing teams and their mascots, rather than individual players. Typically, the dolls for all teams would look the same, except that they would be wearing the uniform for the particular team being depicted. During this time there were a few dolls made up to represent some of the more famous players of the day, but they differed from their respective team dolls only by the uniforms they wore. Unfortunately, few of these papier-mache dolls have survived without some sort of damage (usually cracking or chipping), although those that have survived in good condition are now valuable collectors' items.
In the 1970s, bobbleheads were made of ceramic materials, and became popular for other sports, as well as for popular cultural and cartoon characters. However, by the mid-1970s, interest in the dolls had again died out, and very few new dolls were made for nearly two decades, when they became popular again.
In the 1990s, the dolls began to be made from plastic, which greatly reduced their cost, and facilitated the making of many variations of dolls to represent specific cultural figures and other notable people. After 2000, many different variations of the dolls began to appear, and a number of companies started to offer dolls that could be customized to the buyers' specifications. Modern dolls that represent specific individuals closely resemble those individuals, even including such things as headbands, scars, tattoos, and hair styles.
The greater diversity of the dolls, and their decreased cost, have, once again, made them a very popular item, and have rekindled interest in collecting them. Today bobblehead dolls have become an integral part of our culture. They have truly become one of the world's most recognizable cultural icons.
About the Author
GalaxyOfStores is an Online Shopping Center for THOUSANDS of different products for the whole family. Please visit
ACTION FIGURES, DOLLS AND STUFFED TOYS
for additional interesting articles, as well as a great selection of children's toys, and visit the GalaxyOfStores.com
HOME PAGE
for all of its great products.
where can i buy a vesta plush doll?
i mean vesta from animal crossing just in case some of you are confused but i saw her on the animal forest website but i cant find it on a website that you can actually buy stuff on. please help, and by the way, please dont say go to japan because i cant. thank you!
If you see it in Japanese website, you can use this site www.japantodoor.com to help you buy it off for you, and have it ship to you internationally! I been using them, and been telling people about them, since i would not have able to collect so much items i love, without their friendly help and service!
Ask them, and they will search for you!
Asian Stocks Rise for First Time in Four Days on China Housing
Asian stocks rose, driving up the MSCI Asia Pacific Index for the first time in four days, on speculation China’s government will soon end policies to cool the housing market.
Thanks for visiting!
