During Hinamatsuri, or “Doll Festival” in English, girls display their dolls in their homes or on a platform covered in a red carpet.
This tradition goes back to the 1stcentury when people believed dolls could be host to bad spirits and would float them down the river, taking with them the bad spirits.
March 3 marks the observance of the hinamatsuri (doll festival), one of five sekku, or seasonal festivals, celebrated through the year. Together known as gosekk
u, these events took shape in part through the influence of Chinese philosophy and were first observed by courtiers during the Heian period (794–1185).
They fell on the first day of the year’s first month, the third day of the third month, and so on dates considered being highly auspicious owing to the doubling of odd numbers for the month and date.
(On the modern calendar, they are celebrated on January 1, March 3, May 5, July 7, and September 9.) On these days, ceremonies were conducted and special dishes
prepared and eaten to ensure good fortune.
Over time, the March sekku took on aspects of a broader tradition involving the making of simple paper dolls called hitogata. These dolls were common toys for
children of aristocratic families as well as serving as katashiro, or emblems used in purification rituals.
The hinamatsuri gradually became a time to give thanks for the health and development of young girls, thanks to the influence of a traditional form of d
oll play called hina-asobi. March 3 is also referred to as momo no sekku, or the peach festival.
The blossoms of the peach tree, which according to the lunar calendar bloom around the beginning of the third month, are not only prized as harbingers of s
pring but are traditionally thought to ward off malevolent spirits.
These aspects, along with their beauty, have combined to make them an essential decoration of the hinamatsuri. The most alluring aspect of the hinamatsuri is, of course, the intricately crafted dolls.
These are displayed on a red-carpeted, stepped platform called a hinadan. On the top step are the central figurines of the festival, the male odairisama and female ohinasama.
These figures said to represent members of the imperial family, are waited on by the sannin k
anjo (three court ladies), gonin bayashi (five musicians), and other attendants who sit, along with such court regalia as sake cups and elaborate chests of drawers, on lower steps.
The dolls and regalia together are known as hinakazari. They can vary from simple affairs of only a couple steps to elaborate, multi-tiered displays. They originated in the court culture of Kyoto and first began spreading across the nation in the eighteenth century.
I
n the days leading up to the festival, households with young daughters display the ornately dressed figurines prominently, where they can be admired by family members and guests.
However, once the festival is finished, custom dictates that dolls and decorations be quickly packed away, as it is believed that leaving them out too long will harm a daughter’s chances of marriage.
