NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

From left: Chapter President Gail Sueki, Secretary Pat Nakashima and Board Member Mariko Fujimoto with Sueki’s grandmother’s doll set.

By J.K. Yamamoto

The recently formed Silicon Valley Chapter of the JACL celebrated Hina Matsuri (Girls Day) with a doll exhibit on March 6 at the Sunnyvale branch of Union Bank.

Continuing from last summer’s Tanabata event, the chapter sought to connect local Japanese American families with traditional Japanese observances. Hina Matsuri, which means “doll festival,” is held on March 3. It is a day for families to wish their daughters a long life and happiness.

The main feature of Hina Matsuri is a five- or seven-tiered doll display representing the imperial court of the Heian period (794-1185). The emperor and empress are at the top, followed by three court ladies, five musicians, two ministers and three servants. The complete set is expensive and is often handed down from generation to generation. Some smaller sets feature only the imperial couple.

Other items in the display include a mandarin orange tree, a cherry tree, and hishimochi (diamond-shaped rice cakes).

The Union Bank exhibit included a doll set loaned by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, along with more contemporary examples like Mickey and Minnie Mouse as the emperor and empress, Hello Kitty as another empress, and a set made up of Precious Moments figurines.

The chapter put out a call for local Japanese Americans to bring their family heirlooms. One of the sets, with the emperor and empress in a special enclosure, dates back to before World War II. It was provided by San Jose Japantown community leader Jimi Yamaichi, although it did not originally belong to him.

Pat Nakashima, chapter secretary and Yamaichi’s niece, explained that a Japanese American family that was about to be interned left the dolls with a Caucasian family for safekeeping. “Apparently the family that owned the dolls never came back to get them from this family ... The Caucasian family then offered the dolls to Jimi because they didn’t have any use for them ... He doesn’t know what happened (to the original owners).”

Nakashima noted that it is rare to find a complete set from before the war. “Our family never had any of these dolls, but I remember a good friend of mine when I was in grammar school told me that when her family was getting ready to evacuate, her mother had the dolls burned because she knew that she couldn’t take them with her and I guess there was nobody she knew that she could leave the dolls and know that they would be safe ...

“How sad. I think that happened with lots of families. They just said, ‘I’d rather destroy it than have somebody take it that didn’t appreciate what it was all about.’ ”

When the exhibit was put together, “it was interesting to talk to people about which families donated them and what stories they had behind them,” Nakashima said. “It was interesting for us setting it up … to see the variety and see the newer ones that are much more simple in many respects than the older dolls. Still, they all have their stories … A lot of them you could tell had been in the family for a long time. They were packed away.”

Silicon Valley JACL President Gail Sueki brought her grandmother’s dolls. “My grandmother had six girls, so of course Girls Day was a big deal in our family, and every year the dolls would be displayed and we would go over to my grandmother’s house and celebrate Girls Day,” she recalled. “When we were younger, we weren’t allowed to touch the dolls, but my cousins and I would put little notes in the (miniature) chest drawers, and in fact they’re still there.”

She added, “My favorite thing about Hina Matsuri was the sakura mochi. I love sakura mochi. That’s the one thing that I would wait for every year.”

Sakura mochi are pink rice cakes filled with an (bean paste) and wrapped in cherry leaves. Shuei-Do, San Jose Japantown’s manju shop, made large quantities for Girls Day.

Mark Kobayashi, chapter vice president and the father of two daughters, said of Hina Matsuri, “For girls it really makes them feel their ethnic roots, I think, more than anything else. Because you get a chance to wear the kimonos … and you feel very special.”

He and his wife, Lisa, provided some of the smaller, more contemporary sets.

Julie Nakatani, customer service manager at Union Bank in Sunnyvale, brought out a set that had been in storage for 43 years. “You know how I found out the date? On top in the box there was an old newspaper. It said May 1967,” she said. “So it’s been in our garage all that time.”

The daughter of Kinsui Saiki and the late Susumu Saiki, both noted practitioners of ikebana, Nakatani said that the dolls were probably more than 50 years old. “I was born in Japan. When I was a little girl, they bought it for me. So when we came on a ship from Japan we brought it here. It would have been (made in) the early ’50s because we came to the United States in 1957. It’s amazing how they weathered all that … My mom’s very happy that I was able to take it out.”

The daylong event included videos, storytelling and crafts for kids.

A VIP reception was held the night before, with sakura mochi and sekihan (pink rice with azuki beans) served and most of the chapter’s female members wearing kimono to mark the occasion.

The bank was represented by John Abe, vice president and branch manager. Special guests included Assemblyman Jim Beall Jr. (D-San Jose), Cupertino Mayor Kris Wang, Mountain View Mayor Ronit Bryant, San Jose City Councilman Kansen Chu, Sunnyvale City Councilmen David Whittum, Ron Swegles, Jim Griffith and Otto Lee, Campbell City Councilman Dan Furtado, and Santa Clara City Councilwoman Jamie McLeod.

For more information on the chapter’s activities, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit http://SiliconValleyJACL.dnsalias.net.