Hina Matsuri

Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival)

March 3

Hina Matsuri is a festival for girls, celebrated in homes throughout Japan since the Edo Period (1600-1867), when doll making became a highly skilled craft.
A set of 10 to 15 dolls (or hina ), usually unmatched family heirlooms from various generations, is displayed on a stand covered with red cloth, the stand having at least three and up to seven steps. Dressed in elaborate antique silk costumes, the dolls represent the emperor and empress, ladies-in-waiting, court ministers, musicians, and servants. Replicas of ornate furnishings are part of the display, as are miniature dishes of foods offered to the emperor and empress. People visit each other's homes to admire the dolls.
In parts of Tottori Prefecture, girls make boats of straw, place a pair of paper dolls in them with rice cakes and, after displaying them with the other hina, set them afloat on the Mochigase River. This custom supposedly dates back to ancient times when dolls were used as talismans to exorcize evil; a paper doll cast into a river signified the washing away of human misfortune.

CONTACTS:
Japan Information Network, Japan Center for Intercultural Communications
2-7-7 Hirakawacho
Chiyodaku
Tokyo, 102-0093 Japan
81-3-3263-5041; fax: 81-3-3230-4107
home.jcic.or.jp

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 196
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 72
BkHolWrld-1986, Mar 3
DictFolkMyth-1984, p. 540
FolkAmerHol-1999, p. 126
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 200
HolSymbols-2009, p. 360
JapanFest-1965, p. 72

Celebration day: Mar 3