The Doll Festival

The Doll Festival

In Japan there is a day for dolls.

It is called Girls' Day.

You put out special dolls.

Friends come to look at your dolls.

You go and look at your friends' dolls.

On March 3rd every year in Japan the Doll Festival, or Girls' Day, takes place. In the Japanese language the festival is called Hina matsuri (say hee-nuh mat-soo-ree). Hina means 'doll' and matsuri means 'festival'. The festival, on the 3rd day of the 3rd month, is held in early spring.

An empress doll - photograph © [2007] Jupiterimages Corporation

Families with daughters make a display of special dolls. They start a few weeks before March 3rd. Hina Matsuri is a way to pray that their daughters will grow up healthy and happy. On Girls' Day girls dress in their best kimonos (Japanese traditional clothes), and families visit each other to admire the displays. They often have a small party. Boys are their sister's guests on this day.

An emperor doll - photograph © [2007] Jupiterimages Corporation

The dolls are not the kind of dolls you play with, but are only for looking at, and for most of the year they are packed away safely. The dolls are dressed in the very fancy outfits that Japanese people in the royal palace used to wear hundreds of years ago.

Most doll displays have an emperor and empress doll, and many often have dolls dressed as people of the royal palace as well. Some displays include musicians of the royal court. A very fancy display will have around 15 dolls arranged on 7 levels, with the emperor and empress on the top. Families add sweets, cakes, peach blossoms and tiny furniture. The cakes are special rice cakes coloured pink, white and green. The pink means peach blossoms, the white is the melting snow and the green is the new green leaves that come after the blossoms.

In many families, the dolls are very old and have been used for many years from when parents and grandparents were children. Sometimes when a woman marries, she takes her dolls with her to her new home so she can use the same dolls when she has daughters.

Listen to a song about Hinamatsuri here:
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=862&c=85

Make things for your own Hinamatsuri!
http://www.tammyyee.com/origamidoll.html
http://www.crayola.com/lesson-plans/detail/japan's-hina-matsuri-festival-lesson-plan/

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If you use any part of this in your own work, acknowledge the source in your bibliography like this:
Sydenham, S. & Thomas, R. The Doll Festival [online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2010)