Day 4666: Massive Hina Doll Display & Throwback Thursday.

"Rebel": junk collage, ink, digital

   

  

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Click: Chad Crouch, Redwood Coast of Northern California.

 

2GN2S

Massive Hina Doll Display Delights Crowds in Saitama

To celebrate Girls' Day, a 7-meter-tall platform featuring over 1,600 hina dolls is on display at Saitama shopping mall 

Japan's tallest pyramid-style hina doll display is now open to the public in Saitama Prefecture until March 8. Hina dolls are ornamental figures used to celebrate Hinamatsuri (Girls' Day) each year, March 3.

The display is part of an event called Konosu Bikkuri Hina Matsuri — with bikkuri meaning "surprise" — at the Elumi Konosu Shopping Mallin Konosu City.

Hina doll submissions filled up on the first day, entries coming from as far as Hokkaido and Shimane Prefecture.

Konosu's Doll-Making Heritage

The towering 31-tier hina platform stands about 7 meters tall and showcases 1,605 hina dolls. These dolls were gathered from across the country through public submissions. First held in 2005, this year marks the festival's 21st edition. The event aims to promote Konosu, a city known for its doll-making tradition, and boost local tourism.

It took eight hours to arrange the dolls on the platform.

The day before the opening, around 60 to 70 people, including volunteers, worked together to set up the impressive display. Ai Odajima from the Konosu City Tourism Association shared, "Each hina doll holds precious memories from those who sent them. We hope visitors can feel the heartfelt sentiments behind each one."

Messages from those who provided the hina dolls are also on display.

Miyu Ikeda, a resident of Konosu City, visited the festival with her one-month-old daughter, Sayo. Smiling as she looked forward to celebrating her daughter's first Hinamatsuri, she said, "It's my first time seeing this. It was even more overwhelming than I imagined."

A mother and daughter pose in front of the hina dolls.

Our original Shito-Ryu, Genbu-Kai Hombu Dojo,
1429 N. Bristol Street, Santa Ana, CA 92704 

Taken by the City of Santa Ana in eminent domain, 
plowed down to the ground, in order to widen Bristol Street.
They didn't widen. McDonald's next door is still in business.

 

 

 

A  minute video,   , here

 

 

 

  

 

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Blue-banded Pitta

 

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