Value Village ／ Everyday know-how
This answer is a draft. It stays unpublished until legal review and source verification are complete.
Japanese homes decorate for the seasons — New Year pine, Girls' Day dolls, Boys' Day carp streamers, summer wind chimes — then put it all away, and where it goes is a real question in a small home. The customs come with rules about timing, and the storage comes with rules about humidity.
| Decoration | Display | Take down | Storage notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year: kadomatsu (pine), shimekazari (rope), kagami-mochi | From about 26–28 December (not the 29th — "double suffering" — nor the 31st, "one-night decoration") | 7 January (Kanto) or 15 January (Kansai); burned at the shrine's Dondo-yaki bonfire in mid-January | Not stored; new each year |
| Hina dolls (Girls' Day, 3 March) | Early February to 3 March | Promptly after 3 March — folklore says late removal delays the daughter's marriage; on a dry day | Air the dolls, wipe with a soft brush, wrap faces in tissue, camphor (not mixed with other repellents), silica gel; paulownia (kiri) boxes; store high and dry, not the floor or near a bathroom; check once a year in autumn |
| Koinobori (carp streamers) and kabuto (helmet), Boys' Day 5 May | Mid-April to 5 May | After 5 May | Streamers washed and dried completely; helmet dusted, silica gel |
| Tanabata (7 July) | Bamboo with paper wishes | Same day or next | Bamboo disposed; papers kept or burned |
| Summer: wind chimes (fūrin), sudare blinds | June to September | September | Blinds dried before storage |
| Obon (mid-August) | Family altar decorations, lanterns | After Obon | Lanterns boxed |
| Christmas | Late November to 25 December — taken down on the 26th to make way for New Year | 26 December | The one-day switch is a Japanese peculiarity |
[Verify] Display customs vary by region; storage guidance with doll makers' associations (e.g. Japan Doll Association).
Each has a window and a folklore. New Year on the 26th–28th, not the 29th or 31st; hina dolls down promptly after 3 March; Christmas gone on the 26th.
They go to the shrine bonfire (Dondo-yaki) in mid-January — a neighbourhood event with mochi roasted in the embers. Municipal rubbish is the fallback.
Silk, lacquer and hair need dry air, no light, repellent and a high shelf. Air them on a dry day before packing; a set stored damp is ruined by the next February.
Camphor only, not mixed. Mixed repellents liquefy and stain silk permanently.
Compact sets (a prince and princess pair, 30 cm) and glass-case sets exist for exactly this; the storage box doubles as the display stand. Storing it on the top shelf of the oshiire with desiccant is the standard answer.
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https://www.ningyo-kyokai.or.jp/
https://www.bunka.go.jp/english/
https://www.jinjahoncho.or.jp/en/
⚠️ Editorial note: the source URLs above were identified by search. Our working environment cannot reach go.jp domains, so the contents have not been checked against the text. Verify every source before publication and record who checked it and when.
What we share here are ideas and everyday practices passed down among people living in Japan, together with general information drawn from public sources. They are not official recommendations, and they are not professional instruction. Practices vary between households and regions.
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