The top tier holds two dolls, known as . The words "dairi" means "imperial palace". These are the "obina" holding a and "mebina" holding a fan. The pair are also known as and (lord and princess) or and (honored palace official and honored doll). Although they are sometimes referred to as the Emperor and Empress, they only represent the positions and not the actual individuals themselves (with the exception of some dolls from the Meiji period that actually depict Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken). The two are usually placed in front of a gold folding screen and placed beside green Japanese garden trees.