Old Doll Festival

The Ningyo Kuyo, or Old Doll Festival, is held at Kiyomizu Kannondo temple in Ueno park each year. The ningyo used in the festival are old and worn and belong to school children who come to pray for the dolls.

The kids are quite young as you can see. The priests do some chanting for the dolls' spirits, burn incense, march around sombrely and stoke the fire. Did I say stoke the fire? Yah, they stoke the large metal fireplace in preparation.

For what? Ah well, these dolls are used, they are broken, they want relief from the earthly realm of grabbing hands and careless play. They want deliverance into doll nirvana.

So, they shovel the dolls in and the children file past and give a little prayer for their playthings. Hopefully the dolls will be reincarnated as Barbies far away from Japanese infernos.