Interesting Fact About Hinamatsuri Doll Festival

Tokyo Culture Hinamatsuri

2020.03.03

It's Hinamatsuri doll festival today and we would like to share an interesting fact about it!

Today, March 3rd is Hinamatsuri in Japan.
Hinamatsuri【雛祭り：ひなまつり】, also known as Momono Sekku【桃の節句：もものせっく】 which can be directly translated as the season of peach, is the second annual ceremony out of five traditional seasonal ceremonies.

If you look at the displayed dolls, many places decorate their Hina dolls with seasonal items like cherry tree branches and Hina Arare【雛あられ：ひなあられ】, a kind of confectionary made of rice and beans coated in coloured sugar, and many other traditional and unique items.

Out of which you can find mochi, rice cakes, shaped in either square diamond shapes ♦︎ or round.
The ones made into the shape of a diamond are specifically called Hishi Mochi【菱餅：ひしもち】, meaning diamond-shaped mochi.

Just like these ones here in the centre of the picture.

Or these little imitation mochis.

And these.

If you take a look carefully, you might have noticed that many of them come in three colours, white, green and pink, and in either order of pink→ green→ white, or pink→ white→ green from the top downwards.
This specific colours and orders represent a scene that can be found during the change in the season from winter to spring, where new life is sprouting out from the fields covered in snow and peach blossoms blooming.

Once you start to realise, you will notice all sorts of details and start wondering what meanings other items have.

Want to know more about Hinamatsuri? Check out our article on the Hinamatsuri dolls made in Iwatsuki, Saitama prefecture, and article on our recent trip to Makabe.

#Tokyo#History#Hinamatsuri#Momono Sekku#March#Girls Festival#Dolls Festival

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