Endangered Traditions

“Where do you want me to put these?” I asked my elderly aunt as I brought a set of old boxes from her loft down to her living room. They contained the ornamental items you see in my photo above. They looked new, but they were all purchased over 20 years ago soon after the birth of my cousin’s daughter. My aunt had taken excellent care of the doll set that a decreasing number of Japanese people display every 3rd of March in their homes to celebrate Hina Matsuri (ひな祭り) — lit. princess festival, called girls’ day or doll’s day in English. “Obachan, isn’t Sara too old for this? She’s going to be 20 soon, isn’t she?” I politely asked my aunt in Japanese with genuine curiosity. <a href="https://medium.com/japonica-publication/endangered-traditions-1f506a50f215">Click Here</a>