March 14, 2017
On March 5, we celebrated Hinamatsuri, a Japanese holiday commemorating the strength and health of women. It’s become an annual fete at Umami Mart. We display ohinasama, (traditional dolls for the holiday) made by Yoko’s mom, and invite everyone to join us for an afternoon of snacks, amazake, and doll viewing. It’s always a rowdy event with kids […]
February 23, 2016
Growing up, I was lucky enough to have a full ohinasama set displayed in my house every year. An added bonus was that my mom practices kimekomi ningyo (the art of applying clothing on dolls), so our family set was hand clothed by my mom. It took her over a decade to complete the whole set including […]
April 5, 2013
How often do you see babies on the front page of Umami Mart??? Well, it was bound to happen at some point. Look at her, she’s adorbz! It is quite rare for either Yoko or myself to show our true girly colors, but we could not resist the urge to celebrate WOMEN at our first ever […]
February 25, 2013
Yoko and I are showing our true, girly colors by celebrating Hinamatsuri (Girl’s Day) at Umami Mart! We had to do it — Yoko’s mom spent over a decade making a traditional ohinasama (ornamental doll) display with five tiers (!) that we felt we absolutely must showcase. Girl’s Day in Japan lands on March 3 every […]