Do you know “Hina matsuri”? The doll festival on March 3rd is a special day for girls. It’s also called “Momo-no Sekku”（桃の節句）which means “Peach Festival”. People also celebrate peach blossoms that bloom earlier than cherry blossoms.
What do you need to do there?
A family with young girls celebrates this day and wishes for their healthy growth and happiness by setting up a display Japanese traditional dolls called “Hina Ningyo”.
The Hina dolls are believed to take away the bad luck of girls who own them.
People began displaying dolls in the Edo period. The dolls depict the imperial court. They are dressed in traditional costume from the Heian Period (BC794-1185).
People put away Hina Ningyo as soon as Hina matsuri is over.
Why? Because it’s believed that the girl will get married late in the future if people put away Hina Ningyo too late.
However, don’t worry about it so much. It’s just a superstition…
How do you celebrate?
On that day, the party is held. Everyone gets together to celebrate, and eat lots of meals.
The popular meals are Chirashi-sushi, Hishi-mochi, Hina Arare with Japanese sweet sake.
Let’s see them.
“Chirashi Sushi”, a kind of Sushi with many scattered toppings such as salmon roe, and Sashimi (seafood) and vegitables on vinegared rice.
Hishi-Mochi are diamond shaped rice cakes and their colors are pink, white and green.
It is said that pink is symbolic of Peach blossoms, green is symbolic of wealth, and white is symbolic of pureness.
Hina arare are sweet and bite-sized rice crackers. Their colors are also same as Hishi-Mochi.
Japanese sweet sake is soft taste. Although this is called Sake, it doesn’t have any alcohol.
Recent “Hina matsuri”
Recent Hina matsuri is really “compact”. Since many Japanese houses are small, there are no space to display lots of dolls. Small size of Hina ningyo is popular in many families.
And there is a sort of tendency where the families which doesn’t have any girl also enjoy Hina Matsuri as a seasonal event.
Feeling early spring atmosphere, let’s pray children’s happiness!!
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