Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival)

Hinamatsuri, also known as the Doll Festival or Girls' Day, is a traditional Japanese event held on March 3rd to wish for the health and happiness of girls. Families display ornamental hina dolls on tiered platforms covered with red cloth and celebrate with chirashi sushi, clam soup, hina-arare rice crackers, and shirozake. The festival is said to have grown from Heian-period doll play combined with nagashi-bina, a purification custom of setting paper dolls afloat on rivers to carry away misfortune. A well-known tradition holds that the dolls should be put away promptly once the festival is over.