October 18, 2004
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Doll Thanksgiving at Meiji Shrine 10/18/2004
The Doll Thanksgiving festival took place at Meiji Shrine on Oct. 17. People from far and wide bring their unwanted dolls and stuffed toys for proper disposal. For a fee, you can leave your doll and have its spirit properly thanked for its past services and transferred to a piece of doll shaped paper which is burned, thus sending the little toy ghost happily into the next world where it will not come back and bother its owner for casting it aside, or so the story goes. I originally thought that the dolls themselves were all burned, but in this day of recycling it may no longer be the case. When the reception area closed at 3:00, the shrine staff drew curtains over the display and I am not sure what happened after that. Personally, I would like to see the entire display go to recycle shops. There were a some dolls that I imagine were valuable, and these will probably be picked out for preservation. Anyway, here are some pics of the doomed dolls on display. The first picture is of a family bringing dolls to the reception table. The next shot is rather disarming.....
In a separate display area were dolls deemed worthy of survival, I mean, preservation. Here are a few samples, Japanese dolls first.
Here are some of the other dolls deemed "worthy." I would take any of these home. The Barbie department could do with a few better samples, though. None of the dolls are in good condition, although the two on the right show potential if cleaned up. The two very vintage Bubble Cuts in the middle are afflicted with green ear, caused by a chemical reaction between the metal post earrings and the plastic, and the two on the left are recent dolls in very played with condition. The pink dress Barbie has made several appearances over the years at this event, and I advised the removal of her earrings three or so years ago. This was done and the green ear has not spread. The green dress Barbie still has her earrings and I again advised the people in charge that they be removed pronto, as green ear really causes the value of a Barbie doll to drop like a stone. Sorry for all the technical details!
Besides dolls and dancing at Meiji Shrine, other business went on as usual. Here we see a couple of shots of a wedding party and a booth where shrine staff sells various auspicious charms. There was a window on the side of the booth that allowed for the unusual picture angle.
