Can you tell why?
Photo of my Hinamatsuri tea bowl: by Author Akemi Sagawa
March 3rd is Hinamatsuri ひな祭り… What is it? Well, there are so many articles that explain about Hinamatsuri in Medium, of which I listed two below. Please read them to familiarize yourself.
“The Dolls’ Festival is a Special Day to Celebrate Girls” by Diane Neill Tincher
“Happy Girl’s Day — Hinamatsuri” by Kyoko Nagano
The photo above is of my Hinamatsuri tea bowl. I always look forward to using this cute bowl at this time of the year, to celebrate this girl’s festival.
Now you have read those three articles, and you see my tea bowl. Have you found why I said my bowl is special?
Look at the photos of Hina dolls 雛人形on the above two articles. Which side is the emperor situated?
As you see in the photos in the two articles, the emperor doll is situated on the right side of the empress. But my tea bowl has the emperor situated on the left side of the empress. You might wonder why…
In ancient Japan, the left was considered to be a higher position than the right. When placing the Hina dolls, therefore, people used to put the emperor on the left side of the empress.
After Japan opened up the country to the West, however, the Japanese emperor and the empress started to follow western customs, that is, the emperor stands on the right side of the empress. If you see the photos of the current emperor and empress standing together, the emperor is on the right side of the empress.
Regions near Tokyo now follow the new way and place the emperor doll on the right. People in Kyoto, however, still follow the old way.
My tea bowl was made by a Kyoto-based potter. For him, the emperor doll has to be on the left side of the empress. And I follow him because I’m from Osaka, much closer to Kyoto than Tokyo physically and culturally.
For me, right is not “right,” left is “right.”