It’s Sho-time for annual hina doll display

The Yomiuri Shimbun

November 25, 2021

Baseball star Shohei Ohtani and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Syukuro Manabe were among the notable’s featured in this year’s collection of special hina dolls that went on display at the Ueno Seiyoken restaurant in Taito Ward, Tokyo, on Thursday.

The dolls, called “kawaribina” or “offbeat hina dolls,” are created annually around this time of year as a sign of the times by presenting people or events that were in the news over the past year. There are six pairs on display.

This year’s dolls include Ohtani, the two-way star for the major leagues’ Los Angeles Angels who was named the Most Valuable Player in the American League, and Manabe, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics.

“Since there were so many bad topics because of the pandemic, we chose happy news for the dolls,” said Kenji Kanabayashi, president of Mataro Ningyo (Mataro Doll), the Tokyo-based company that manufactures the products.

The dolls will be exhibited at the Mataro Ningyo Kaikan building in Taito Ward from Dec. 1 to March 3 next year, the day of the annual doll festival.