Happy Hinamatsuri- The Girls' Day Festival

On the third day of the third month, in Japan, little girls celebrate the festival known as Hinamatsuri, or the Girls' day festival, also known as the Dolls' Festival. Steps are covered with red cloth, and very special ceremonial dolls are brought out of boxes, some of these dolls are handed down in families, generation after generation, to celebrate this special day. Boys have their own festival as well. 

Rumor Godden wrote two books on two little Japanese dolls- the first one was Miss Happiness  & Miss Flower. Below are my own 1:6 scale version of them, celebrating Hinamatsuri.

 

I hope you enjoyed the Hinamatsuri photos I have amassed over the years, I know I have enjoyed creating them. The books if you are interested, are by Rumor Godden and can be found on Amazon or ebay- Miss Happiness & Miss Flower and the sequel was Little Plum. 

Miss Happiness & Miss Flower tells how Nona, a lonely little girl befriends two Japanese dolls and there are even plans how to build a japanese dolls house and garden , and in the sequel, Little Plum, it explains about Hinamatsuri and how they recreate the Dolls' Festival in miniature. 

Japanese room in 1:6 scale

I finished the back wall with the wall hangings and the niche today and set up the Re-ment Hina set. It looks great. I just need to finish the other side wall with another faux Shoji door, and this room will be complete in time for Hinamatsuri on March 3rd.

The table is made of scraps of wood. The four panels on the wall are copied from the internet and printed, then put onto scraps of foamcore with the edges painted gold. I think they were called the Four Seasons. Hinamatsuri set is made by Re-ment and is one of my most treasured miniature pieces..I have extras which I will scatter about the room. 
I currently have a Mini American Girl doll Ivy who I purchased online from Walmart for $15 to be the little girl in this scene, and a Man of Asia GI Joe will also be on the way soon, I hope. My Kyori and him will be a couple with Ivy as their little girl. Miss Happiness (Hanoko) is my Barbie Basics asian doll shown above, and my IT Summer will be Sachiko or Miss Flower- I have not yet dressed her in a kimono for this scene.
The unusual wooden dinner set with carp goldfish painted on it was a set purchased in Chinatown when I was a child in New York, when my father took us on a trip up there. I still remember that little shop in Chinatown, I was about thirteen at the time. I am hoping to use this room for the main room also when I create the Shogun Japanese restuarant later. So for the month of March and possibly April I will be immersing myself in Japanese culture for these dioramas, which I have enjoyed building and researching.

Yes, I admit I love GI Joe...

I am old enough to have very fond memories of playing in the sandbox with the kid next door and his GI Joe's, along with my Malibu Barbies- Ken, Barbie, PJ & Skipper. The 60's and early 70's are when the 12 inch GI Joe was at his peak- and the kid next door had it all- the mummy terrain vehicle, the command control center, all of that neat stuff that Joe had back then. He also had the 'fuzzheads' as they are referred to. My Barbies preferred dating the Joes next door as they had uniforms and a 'real' job- Ken even in my childish perception- was a bum- and a beach bum with no tuxedo, no suits, just swim shorts and a surfboard. How could he take Barbie out to the swanky dinner in that?? lol..

I had purchased a 40th anniversary Joe previously last year off of Ebay, a sailor one, but was very displayed with his body- it was not all like I remembered. Doing my research that is because Hasbro changed the wondeful vintage body on Joe so I had this ham fisted incredible hulk joe. He has served as a filler person in the doll town, and recently I used him to display the sushi I made.

This Photo on my Flicker album has already, since being uploaded on February 15th, 34 favorites and 6,894 views!!!!  Entitled Joe serves Sushi' I am still trying to figure out what is so special about it!!

Closeup of the Hasbro GI Joe and my sushi. 

I definitely do not think it is my attempts at Sushi in polymer, as this was a first try. You never know what people will go over the top for when you upload pics to your flicker albums.

But back to GI Joe...yes this is the 50th anniversary of GI Joe's appearance in the toy world. Hasbro, which originally manufactured it, has no 50th anniversary doll- mostly just the toy conventions do with the convention dolls. The collectors are sadly lamenting it, and as a doll collector, we were virtually pelted with an array of 50th anniversary Barbies.

I joined the GI Joe Club on Saturday, and you get two choices of what 'figure' size you would like- I chose of course the 12 inch. 

Joining the third class domestic I paid $44 and I was also able to purchase the 

2008 club exclusive Man of Asia for $23. GI Joe club is having an incredible sale on some of their exclusives in their shop- you have to be a member to buy them- for 50 days and something new shows up on sale virtually every day. You also have forum access and get a newsletter /magazine (are you listening Mattel?) The club exclusive dolls are made with a similar vintage body, great for posing. If you join by March 16th, your club exclusive will automatically be sent to you free. So after March I have another Joe joining my herd.

I also have joined the one GI Joe forum called The Trenches and learned something 

new, guys view these dolls as action figures, not dolls, dude. While doll collectors and diorama artists go for the nitty gritty on reality- only a portion of the Joe collectors go for that- their fond memories revolve around playing in the sand box with mounds of natural scenes saving Joe, having him parachute into a fox hole, and so on. (I admit to liking that as a little girl too...lol ..what can I say- I am and was a born miniaturist!)

A word of warning- the Club does not ship quickly. A look at the club forum and the Trenches and some people ordered two or three weeks ago and were JUST receiving their orders. I am hoping my Man of Asia gets here soon as I want to start working on my Asian family to be celebrating Hinamatsuri on March 3rd. Hinamatsuri is the Dolls' day or Girls day Festival in Japan. I have the Hinamatsuri set and want to work on a Japanese diorama for the month of March. My Man of Asia will be a Shogun chef- in a Japanese steakhouse. He will probably be married to my Love the One Kyori and I am hoping to acquire a small doll to be their daughter. Kyori's cousins who are sisters- Sachiko and Hanoko, (Happiness and Flower- named after Miss Happiness and Miss Flower in Rumor Godden's famous book about two little Japanese dolls) will also work in the restuarant as well. Hence, that is my reasons for making sushi. 

I have put a hold on my Chateau project for right now. I have acquired a Kyu for a body swap for my Emmett who will be transformed into Louis, so Marie Antoinette & the Princesse de Lamballe have been put away for awhile I work on the Japanese diorama, which I have wanted to do for quite a while. Yesterday was a wonderful day and I went shopping for supplies and materials, I hope to have enough done to get some pictures today.