Benaki Complex, Toy Museum
The Benaki Museum in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan present a collection of traditional Japanese toys and dolls related to customary festivities as an integral part of the Japanese culture for centuries. The exhibition intends to emphasize on girl’s day Hina Matsuri Festival and children's day Kodomo no hi.
Every year on March 3rd, girls’ families set up platforms in their houses covered with a red carpet, to display a set of dolls hina-ningyō as symbols of good fortune for the future life of girls. These dolls represent the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period.
The 5th day of May is dedicated to the celebration of children’s happiness and the respect of their personalities. Boys’ families display in their houses the traditional Japanese military helmet, kabuto and the carp-shaped koinobori flags as symbols of strength, vitality and courage which according to the Japanese tradition, their cause, is to protect children from misfortune and disease.
This exhibition is organized on the occasion of the celebration of 120 years of diplomatic relations between Greece and Japan in 2019 within various cultural events.