Hinamatsuri - Girls’ Day » caitlinomara.com

Hinamatsuri - Girls’ Day

Mar 03, 2008 • Japanese Culture

Examples of the dolls, small sizes

Today is Hinamatsuri (雛祭り), or Girls’ Day, where families pray for the health and happiness of their daughters. The origins of hinamatsuri are unclear but it probably began during the Heian Period (794-1185 AD), combining doll playing among the nobility and the ceremony of removing impurities. This ceremony was called hinanagashi, or doll floating. People would set small straw or paper dolls in a boat and send them floating away because it was believed the dolls had the power to take away the impurities.

Up until the Meiji era (1868-1912 AD), this festival was celebrated mostly by the nobility but afterwards, it was widely promoted and today, all families with daughters have dolls to display. Dolls are big business and around this time of year, many department stores will have elaborate sets of dolls for sale. These dolls range widely in price and can cost hundreds of dollars.

You can also buy cheaper, smaller sized sets of the Emperor and Empress dolls so if you’re in Japan during this time, they make great gifts to take back home. All emperor and empress sets come with a backing, the most common being a thick, folded paper with a design on it. However, I think the painted seashell background makes for a much better backing, although the price will be a bit higher.

Setting Up The Dolls

The dolls are generally displayed 2 weeks prior to hinamatsuri. There are 15 dolls total, each dressed in Heian-period clothing, representing the Emperor, Empress, and their court. Depending on the region of Japan, the placement of the dolls varies but their placement on the 5-7 tiers remains the same:

Tier 1: The Emperor and Empress
Tier 2: 3 court attendants, female, holding tokkuri (sake flasks)
Tier 3: 5 musicians, male, 4 holding instruments (hand drums and flutes) and 1, the singer, holding a fan
Tiers 4-7: If there are minister or guardian dolls, they will be displayed on Tier 4, servants on Tier 5; otherwise, Tiers 4-7 are filled with miniature furniture, small meals, or cherry/peach/orange trees.

The most common display is a 5 tier display without the minister, guardian, or servant dolls. Families can choose to display only the Emperor and Empress dolls but many display the full set. It takes up a lot of space so families will often place them in the living room for visitors to view. In the case of my former host family, the dolls filled the tokonoma in their traditional room.

After hinamatsuri is over, the families must take the dolls down before the night of March 4th or, as the superstition goes, the daughter will not get married this year.

Food & Other Customs

Traditional hinamatsuri foods are hina-arare, hishimochi, and shirozake. Hina-arare are small, soy-sauce flavored sembe that come in 3 symbolic colors - red (earth), white (life), and green (trees) - although the colors don’t affect the flavor. Hina-arare is like any sembe and readily available at grocery stores.

Similarly, hishimochi are diamond-shaped mochi cakes in the same colors and are used as offerings to the dolls. However, the symbolism is slightly different - pale pink represents peach blossoms, white symbolizes snow, and green symbolizes grass. This mirrors the seasonal change from winter (snow) to spring (grass) and then the peach blossoms appear. Hishimochi is cheap and can be bought in grocery stores or manju shops.

Shirozake is sake with rice pulp left it and is sweeter than regular sake. The texture is kind of like extremely watery oatmeal, as the rice pulp is tasteless, which wasn’t too delicious. Still, it’s traditional so if you are offered shirozake on hinamatsuri, it’s best to drink it or at least try it. Shirozake can be bought throughout the year and the price will depend on the quality and company.

Hina-arare, hishimochi, and shirozake

Hinamatsuri fishcake Additionally, families often eat sushi and a clam soup. Clams are symbolic of closeness and unity between a husband and wife, tying in with the theme of hinamatsuri. There may even be hinamatsuri themed fishcake, featuring the Emperor and Empress (see the image on the left). For dessert, there are now hinamatsuri cakes, featuring an emperor and empress on top, although more traditional Japanese desserts may be served. Most hinamatsuri cakes are light and airy and may be decorated with any or all of the 3 colors.

The peach blossom is associated with hinamatsuri and symbolizes a happy marriage, strength, and feminine beauty. Peach blossoms are often displayed during hinamatsuri, either on decorations on the dolls display or as offerings to the dolls.

Other Notes

Although hinamatsuri is widely celebrated, it doesn’t have the same level of importance that New Year’s or Obon has. As a foreigner living in Japan, it is quite easy to let it pass by, uncelebrated. However, I would encourage you to at least look at the variety of dolls (department stores are great for this). Most of the food is not limited to hinamatsuri, except for the colorings, but if you enjoy sake, try to get your hands on some shirozake.