We have the Doll Festival called “Hina-matsuri” in Japanese on March 3rd.  This festival is for wishing for and celebrating girls’ growth and happiness.  Most families with little girls display beautiful dolls in ancient court costumes called hina dolls at home.  We offer diamond-shaped rice cakes and alcohol-free sweet sake to the dolls.  Little girls eat colored cubic rice crackers and drink sweet sake ad enjoy viewing the dolls.

Hina dolls

A formal set of hina dolls consists of the Emperor and the Empress, three court ladies, five musicians, two ministers and three servants.  They are aranged on five or seven stepped shelves that are covered by a red cloth.  The word hina means a small doll.  In the ancient days, people made dolls by themselves and threw the dolls into a river along with offerings.  It was believed that sickness and ill-fortune would flow away down the river with them.  Today hina dolls are sold in specialty shops or department stores, but they are very expensive.  Therefore they are customarily handed down for generations.