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International News

PRECIOUS POSSESSIONS. Doll-shaped paper cutouts are burned as part of a prayer ritual during a doll memorial ceremony at Dairokuten Sakaki Shrine in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

FINAL FAREWELL. A Shinto priest performs a purification ritual in front of dolls and stuffed toys. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

From The Asian Reporter, V36, #11 (November 2, 2026), page 4.

By Eugene Hoshiko

The Associated Press

TOKYO — At the Dairokuten Sakaki Shrine in Tokyo, Shinto priests are helping families say a final farewell to beloved dolls.

As representatives from a traditional Japanese doll company clap their hands in prayer, the priests symbolically release the spirits associated with the dolls, offering prayers for the health of their owners and families.

It’s a ritual that honors the long-cherished toys and helps owners let go.

Many of them are elaborate dolls dressed in brightly colored kimono, some of which have been in families for more than 100 years, but next to them you can find ordinary children’s toys: Snoopy, plush cats.

Prayers are then made over doll-shaped paper talismans, which are burned in place of the dolls.

The paper turns to gray ash. But the memories, and the dolls, remain as vivid as yesterday.