Hinamatsuri is celebrated annually on March 3rd as one of the five seasonal festivals known as go sekku (五節句). It dates back to the Heian period (794-1185) but was popularized and started to resemble its present form during the Edo period (1603-1868). It is then that it became known as the momo no sekku (桃の節句) as it was celebrated during the peach, or momo, blossom season. Once the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1873, the seasonality shifted and the date was fixed to March 3rd.
Celebrated as “Girl’s day”, families wished daughters a healthy life filled with abundance and happiness.
It is more common to call it hinamatsuri (ひな祭り) these days.
Before and during the festival, it is tradition for households with daughters to display ornamental dolls called hinaningyo (雛人形) on a multi-tiered stand. The dolls typically represent the Emperor and Empress along with their court and musicians as well as celebratory food dishes and objects.
Another type of decoration that originated in prefectures like Fukuoka, Yamagata and in regions of Shizuoka is the tsurushihina (つるし雛). These dolls were traditionally homemade from old kimono fabric by loving family members. Compared to the hinaningyo, the tsurushihina was more affordable and represented daily things like vegetables, fruits and animals.
You can typically see displays of both hinaningyo and tsurushihina nationwide during the month of March.
Hina-matsuri is a celebrated with food as well; a traditional meal is chirashi zushi (ちらし寿司) and clear clam soup. The origin of this tradition is not clear but one theory is that as spring approached, people sought ingredients from both the sea and the mountains. As for the clam, it symbolizes unity or marriage, because the two shells fit perfectly.
Hina-matsuri snacks are hishi mochi (菱餅) and hina arare (雛あられ). The color combinations are similar: pink (to ward off evil, to show respect to ancestors), white (fertility, family prosperity, health) and green (to ward off evil, for health). Hishi mochi is a tricolored layered mochi cut into a rhombus. The order of the colors can vary by region but they are typically red-white-green, from top to bottom. It represents a cross section of a scenery in spring: new plants about to sprout through the accumulated snow with plum flowers blossoming above. Hina arare are colored rice puffs flavored with sugar or soy sauce, depending on the region. A fourth color, yellow, can be added to represent the four season.
Some of the symbolism can be seen as dated but it is with celebrations like these that the Japanese honored their ancestors and future generations. Through these celebrations, traditional food and crafts are handed down from generation to generation.
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