NIHONMATSU
CHRYSANTHEMUM DOLLS
Every year, as the drop in temperature paints the prefecture with the vibrant colours of autumn, the city of Nihonmatsu, located between Fukushima and Koriyama in Nakadori, is buzzing with tourists. At the centre of attention is the Nihonmatsu Chrysanthemum Doll Show. Held annually in the grounds of Kasumigajo Castle, the event attracts more than 400,000 visitors every autumn during its run from 1 October to 23 November.
Each year has a defferent theme. For example photes on this page represent the theme of 1998's show, the fifteenth and last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who ruled Japan during most of 1867. Using dolls dressed in costumes created from brightly coloured chrysanthemums, the exhibits showed major events in Yoshinobu's life, including his education and training in swordsmanship and other martial arts in Mito as a boy, his rise to the position of shogun at the age of thirty, the arrival of the "black ships" led by Commodore Perry - an event which led to the ending of both the reign of the shogunate and Japan's long self imposed exile from the world - and culminating with his retirement to Shizuoka after the shogunate was overthrown by imperialist forces in 1868.
Other features included a replica of Kyoto's famous Rokuon Temple, better known as Kinkakuji Temple or the Golden Pavilion, as well as bonsai and flower exhibitions. A chrysanthemum doll "kabuki" performance telling the story of the Nihonmatsu Boys Corps was also shown several times daily. The story depicted the struggle of this group of boys aged between ten and thirteen, who died while fighting to protect Kasumigajo Castle during the Boshin War. In addition, a special children's corner was set aside for the display of scenes from seven Japanese folk tales, including Hanasaka Jiisan (The Old Man Who Made the Flowers Bloom) and Saru Kani Gassen (The Fight Between the Monkey and the Crab).
Behind the scenes, a huge staff works every year to prepare the more than two hundred chrysanthemum dolls for exhibition. Preparation begins long before the October 1st opening date, with the chrysanthemum growers commencing their cultivation of the flowers over a year before they are to be used. A great amount of the work goes into ensuring that the flowers will be at their peak while the festival is in progress, with factors such as sunlight being carefully controlled so that the buds will bloom at precisely the right time. The setting and layout of the displays is drawn up by a team of planners who decide the content of each exhibit and sketch how they visualize each scene. These ideas are then passed onto the designers who decide and then sketch how each of the dolls should look, right down to their poses and expressions. The plans are then put into the hands of the set makers, the doll makers and the chrysanthemum costume makers who breathe life into the planners' visions. Each doll's costume is created from between fifty and one hundred flowers, with one floral robe taking even the most skilled costume maker an entire day to complete. The task of preparing two hundred dolls therefore, is a long and painstaking one for all involved.
The amount of time and energy put into preparing the Nihonmatsu show every year is reflected in its reputation as Japan's definitive chrysanthemum doll exhibition, with tour groups and television crews coming from all over the country to admire the beautiful scenes.
Every year, as the drop in temperature paints the prefecture with the vibrant colours of autumn, the city of Nihonmatsu, located between Fukushima and Koriyama in Nakadori, is buzzing with tourists. At the centre of attention is the Nihonmatsu Chrysanthemum Doll Show. Held annually in the grounds of Kasumigajo Castle, the event attracts more than 400,000 visitors every autumn during its run from 1 October to 23 November.
Each year has a defferent theme. For example photes on this page represent the theme of 1998's show, the fifteenth and last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who ruled Japan during most of 1867. Using dolls dressed in costumes created from brightly coloured chrysanthemums, the exhibits showed major events in Yoshinobu's life, including his education and training in swordsmanship and other martial arts in Mito as a boy, his rise to the position of shogun at the age of thirty, the arrival of the "black ships" led by Commodore Perry - an event which led to the ending of both the reign of the shogunate and Japan's long self imposed exile from the world - and culminating with his retirement to Shizuoka after the shogunate was overthrown by imperialist forces in 1868.
Other features included a replica of Kyoto's famous Rokuon Temple, better known as Kinkakuji Temple or the Golden Pavilion, as well as bonsai and flower exhibitions. A chrysanthemum doll "kabuki" performance telling the story of the Nihonmatsu Boys Corps was also shown several times daily. The story depicted the struggle of this group of boys aged between ten and thirteen, who died while fighting to protect Kasumigajo Castle during the Boshin War. In addition, a special children's corner was set aside for the display of scenes from seven Japanese folk tales, including Hanasaka Jiisan (The Old Man Who Made the Flowers Bloom) and Saru Kani Gassen (The Fight Between the Monkey and the Crab).
Behind the scenes, a huge staff works every year to prepare the more than two hundred chrysanthemum dolls for exhibition. Preparation begins long before the October 1st opening date, with the chrysanthemum growers commencing their cultivation of the flowers over a year before they are to be used. A great amount of the work goes into ensuring that the flowers will be at their peak while the festival is in progress, with factors such as sunlight being carefully controlled so that the buds will bloom at precisely the right time. The setting and layout of the displays is drawn up by a team of planners who decide the content of each exhibit and sketch how they visualize each scene. These ideas are then passed onto the designers who decide and then sketch how each of the dolls should look, right down to their poses and expressions. The plans are then put into the hands of the set makers, the doll makers and the chrysanthemum costume makers who breathe life into the planners' visions. Each doll's costume is created from between fifty and one hundred flowers, with one floral robe taking even the most skilled costume maker an entire day to complete. The task of preparing two hundred dolls therefore, is a long and painstaking one for all involved.
The amount of time and energy put into preparing the Nihonmatsu show every year is reflected in its reputation as Japan's definitive chrysanthemum doll exhibition, with tour groups and television crews coming from all over the country to admire the beautiful scenes.
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