Farewell to our Japanese Assistants and Celebrating Hinamatsuri

On Monday 3 March, one of Japan’s important festivals, Hinamatsuri, or Doll Festival (also known as Girls’ Festival), was celebrated. This special day is dedicated to wishing for the happiness and healthy growth of girls. Families with young daughters set up a display of hina ningyo dolls dressed in traditional costumes from Japan’s Heian period. These dolls are arranged on a tiered platform, with the Emperor and Empress on the top tier, followed by other court figures such as ladies-in-waiting, musicians, ministers, and guards. Families also offer food and hina arare (colorful rice crackers) to the dolls.

This tradition was originally intended to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune, while also serving as a time for families to wish for the health, longevity, and prosperity of their girls. The students learned about the significance of Hinamatsuri and made their own origami hina dolls.

This week, we say sayoonara to our two assistant teachers from Japan, Haruna Yamazaki Sensei and Kurumi Harada Sensei, who have been joining the Japanese classes for the past four weeks. The students have loved speaking Japanese and particularly enjoyed making origami and playing karuta, a traditional Japanese card game, which has been a fun way to learn new vocabulary.

We wish Haruna Sensei and Kurumi Sensei all the very best with their university studies.

– Natasha Collins
Assistant Head of Department – Languages

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