04/25/01Hinamatsuri On March 3rd, the Japanese people celebrate Hinamatsuri, the doll festival. Because March is also the time that the peach blossoms are in bloom, this festival is also called Momo no sekku, peach festival. This day is known as Girl's Day. The origin of the festival is said to be an ancient Chinese festival where people would take a straw doll and float it down the river. This was said to wash away all the illnesses and bad luck that a person might have for the year. During the Edo period (1603-1867), the festival was established and popularized as a girls' festival, Hinamatsuri.
On Hinamatsuri, families share a meal of Hishi-mochi, Shirosake (sweet white sake), and a dish including clams. Clams are associated with chastity. A traditional way to serve the clams is a clam soup with spring herbs, which also recognizes the arrival of spring. Other treats include konpeitou, small sugar stars. Konpeitou is usually sold in bags, but is also sold with small reproductions of the royal couple Hina-Ningyo.
One of the most interesting aspects of this festival is the ceremonial dolls (Hina-Ningyo). A full Hina-Ningyo set consists of a prince and princess (or emperor and empress), three court ladies, five musicians, two ministers, and three servants. The set is usually displayed in a tiered fashion, with the prince and princess on top, the court ladies next, and so on. Also displayed with the dolls are peach blossoms, Hishi-mochi (diamond shaped rice cakes that are colored pink, white, and green.), Hina-arare (colorful popped rice), and various miniature pieces of furniture. The dolls are dressed in costumes from the Heien period (794-1192). The princess, for example, wears Juni-Hitoe, a very intricate kimono with 12 layers of fabric. This style of kimono is now only used in royal wedding ceremonies.
Hina-Ningyo are taken out only once a year for this day before being stored away for another year. They say that if the dolls are not stored soon after the festival, the girl will be doomed to marry late. A girl's parents or grandparents will give her a set of Hina-Ningyo before her first Hinamatsuri (Hatsu Zekku). Because of the high price of a full set (some sets costing over one million yen) and the small living space in many Japanese apartments, some people buy a set that includes only the royal couple. The girls' parents will usually add one or two dolls to the collection each year until the set is completed. Some girls are given an heirloom set that belonged to their mother or grandmother. The dolls are very special and the girl will pass her dolls on to one of her own daughters one day.
  
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