Japan Fashion: Doll

There are these people, well women, in Japanese society that I often refer to as dolls. Primarily because they make themselves, or at least their faces and hair to look like that of a dolls.

These dolls are not really spotted by the fashion of their clothes, but more the fashion of their visage. Their faces are highly colored with tanning or whitening and powered to the max. They have bright spots of color that adorn their cheeks and their eyes are a drama all to themselves. They are dark with long fake lashes, with seductive moody glances. They have shadow up top that can vary from natural shades to those that are more vibrant. Sometimes and sometimes more often than that, you will find their eyes heavy with eye liner. And then their lips of course have some shiny colorful sparkly gloss to them.
Their hair is another sort of matter entirely. There is something that a Japanese friend of mine calls 'a Nagoya girl' in honor of their hair. What he means by this is that it is dyed and curled and placed all on top of and really all over their head. It looks like it simply either must be a wig ( which is not a stretch in this culture) or that they spent three hours to get it to look like that. This do can vary from being elegant seeming or extremely trashy and disheveled. But either way it is, curling seems to be the way to go for people of this sort. I suppose it is because the vast majority of Japanese persons' hair is straight that they curl it in order to stick out; as I try to call up a memory of any doll with straight hair I come up empty. Their hair is often dyed to a fashionable brown that is a bit hazelnut in color or sometimes even an orangey color that is clearly the product of trying to reach some sort of blonde. Browns are very 'in' right now, and I suppose it might have been this way for a long time. It is a way to stick out from everyone and not be the natural elegant black of the vast majority of Japanese people.

Their clothes. Their clothes make me think that there simply must be no other explanation other than that they work in a hostess club. They go with short shirts or skirt-like shorts (how modest!) or even dresses. Either way there seems to be a theme about their clothing. Revealing. Accompanying their leggyness, are tights. These range in color from nude colored to tights to accent their sleek legs to printed tight for added cuteness or sex appeal. Their shirts and blouses are also pretty varying. It seems to be a bit popular right now to have loose blouses that leave more for the imagination but still seem to be a touch elegant and a touch revealing if they fall a bit off the shoulders. Also popular is a knit, see through short sleeved sweater blouse. Since the Japanese census is that shirts must have sleeves to be proper, they can wear sleeveless shirts with one of these on top to still be considered proper. These sweaters do nil in the way of warmth in the winter as they are knit such that the holes give you a very clear image to the interior clothes.
But perhaps the most important aspect to their clothing is their heels. You will hear me complain time an again about how Japanese women do not know how to walk in heels. And it is very true, just look at the size of them. No wonder they have back problems when they are older! But you will hear them clunking along the side walk in stilted sloppy paces or tipping their feet while standing on the subway, when they are very clearly tired of wearing them already. There is no moderation in heel size either. The higher the better. In fact, for as many nice moderate heels I see being sold in Kobe (famous for shoes), I see rarely a soul wearing them. I feel like shoes must at least be 4 inches to be properly worn out in public be this sort of folk. And indeed it gives their figures a lovely leggy appearance. As for the shoe design, I feel like wedges are a slight be more popular than the stilettos, I suspect there is a minor comfort difference here. Additionally platform heels are entirely acceptable raising oneself an additional few inches to tower over any fancying men.
Jewelry is not an option. It is a necessity. Hair accessories are the most popular but necklaces and bracelets are not far off. And I feel like the one stipulation to their jewelry requirements is that it must be shiny, for that is by far and large the case more often than not. Rings are not as popular here as they are in the west; I feel like this is because if you are wearing a ring, any ring, and on any finger, you might possibly be married. I know I have a ring on my middle finger of my right hand and my students often like to ask me if I am married or if my boyfriend gave it to me. Apparently rings are often tokens of affection from boyfriends and such here. It could also be the significance that Koreans give rings, where rings are often seen as possible couple rings, in which any couple could be in possession of them and it does not necessarily mean they will get married...just that they are a couple. They seem to be a bit like promise rings from the west, but they are a bigger deal to Koreans. Those are normally more elegant and shiny (especially more so than the one I wear!). Earrings I also haven't noticed as much of, but they are occasional accessories. I get the feeling here that more people in the west have their ears pierced than those in Japan. Perhaps this is because of the view they have on piercings. You will also notice in any accessory shop a lack of earrings, with more significant placed on hair products.

So without further a-do I give you what I have titled in terms of Japanese fashion, a doll:

 And two more here. The left one has a more appropriate look I am trying to describe. The right seems a bit more care free and less in control with her features such as a doll would be.

Girls and Dolls

Sister to the amazing musical number of Guys and Dolls, Girls and Dolls has a more simple title in Japanese: Hinamatsuri.

The third of march has two meanings for most Japanese people: Girls' Day and Doll Festival.
Both of these celebrations are held simultaneously.

Dolls are thought to be a sort of container for bad spirits. And as such would be collected on this day and sent down the river into the sea in a ceremony called 'doll floating', or hina-nagashi. This tradition comes from the creation of straw hina dolls upon which Japanese people would transfer their illness, bad luck, or curses and would send down a river out to sea. Essentially sending all their troubles away. As the onset of spring and a season for new beginnings, it has developed into customary practice partaken by many. This custom may seem a little reminiscent of a few Vondun rituals no? Actually there is a separate custom entirely where if one wishes ill-will upon an individual, the creation of a hina doll bearing the name of the individual is undergone and then nailed to a tree.
On the other hand, these same hina dolls are often presented to young girls and used as ornamentation during this festival. It is a way of bringing good luck and future happiness to their daughters. Highly decorative and fashioned in a traditional ancient style of clothing, these dolls typically extremely expensive and are often passed down from generation to generation. These dolls will often set a buyer back one million or more yen; therefore it is not uncommon to only purchase the emperor and empress to start the collection and slowly, with one doll a year, expand the collection until completion. The emperor and empress tend to be the most expensive of the set donning the most elaborate dress made of the finest materials.
A full set of these dolls would consist of at least 15 dolls arranged on a 5 or 7 tiered (remember, lucky numners), red-carpeted platform which is usually placed in the best room of the house when they are on display. Interestingly the placement of the dolls differs slightly from the Kansai to Kanto regions ( as many things tend to), however the tiered arrangement is still that same.

• Top tier: Emperor and Empress Odairi-sama and Ohime-sama respectively ((御内裏様, 御雛様)
• Second tier: 3 court ladies, san-nin kanjo (三人官女)
• Third Tier: 5 musicians, gonin bayashi (五人囃子)
• Fourth Tier: 2 ministers: Minister of the Right, udaijin (右大臣) and Minister of the Left, sadaijin (左大臣)
• Fifth Tier: 3 servants
• Sixth and Seventh Tiers: miniature furnishings

In addition to the ornamentation, young girls will often throw a type of tea party, inviting people over and presenting the dolls, and of course themselves with sweets and tea and other assortments. 

It is a cute superstition, and a good way to make your offspring clean up, that if the dolls are not put away quickly after Hinamatsuri, then she is not to be wed for a long time.

Traditional meals on this day would often include shirosake (a sweet white sake), as well as hina-arare ( a type of popped rice snack that is often offered to the dolls), konpeitou ( a sweet snack), hishi-mochi ( pink, white, and green mochi which is also a frequent offering to the dolls), chirashi-sushi ( a type ofsushi), and perhaps most importantly, a clam soup called, hamaguri ushio-jiru. Clams are really important on this day and are given to girls, as clams symbolize chastity. The coloring of the mochi, where quite common, also has its own meanings: pink for the peach flowers ( which are not yet in bloom), white for the snow, and green for new growth.

Here is a really well done video showing some of he customs mentioned here as well as the traditional song that is sung on this day.

Little miniatures singing the Hina Matsuri song at the Shimogamo Shrine:



The Hina Matsuri River float of ohime and odairi sama at the Shimogamo Shrine: