Updated on 03.02.2026

Hinasama dolls by noramio CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Japan's Day of Girls & Dolls 

Even in the UK, we still like to celebrate Japan's March 3 Girls Day. To display beautifully crafted dolls given to us as toddlers is a tradition that, as we get older, becomes a nostalgic reminder of how far we have come as women. 

Dating back over a thousand years to Japan’s Heian period, Hinamatsuri, also known as Doll's Day and Girls' Day , is a decorative celebration of the health, wellbeing and happiness of young girls. Today, many Japanese families still honour the 3 March holiday with parties of colourful Japanese dishes, and a display of custom-made dolls dressed in the sumptuous garments of a traditional Heian imperial court.

Yet many believe the celebration has the far less ostentatious origins of an ancient purification ritual, once performed to cleanse participants of impurities and ward off future misfortune. In a religious custom, men and women would use paper or straw dolls as effigies that were cast away downstream, taking with them impurities, bad spirits and negative energy.

As the dolls became more elaborate, it also became popular with the daughters of aristocratic families to play with them, evolving into the belief that the dolls would act as conduits, attracting wealth and prosperity for the daughters.

 

 

Emperor and Empress Hinasama dolls ©Mio Yamada/ NiMi Projects

 

Traditionally, a household would display a full court of dolls — from the Emperor and Empress to guards and musicians — a collection that would take up several tiers of a raised platform draped in red cloths. Pink peach blossoms — the flower of the season, according to the Chinese lunar calendar — would complete the set, giving the event its other name of the Peach Blossom festival.

Ornate and valuable, the dolls and their accoutrements were customarily bought by maternal grandparents for newborn granddaughters of a family; though, today some are passed down from generation to generation. 

 

 

Origami Hinasama dolls  ©NiMi Projects

 

In contemporary Japanese homes, especially westernised homes and apartments where there is less room for full seven-tier displays, compact sets have become more popular. Three-tier (sandan kazari) or five-tier (godan kazari) arrangements focus on the emperor, empress, and core attendants. Frames are made of lightweight woods and, often, garments and accessories are simplified for easy setup. Single-tier shinnō kazari options, or hanging, mobile-like tsurushi-bina variants in soft cotton and paper, fit on shelves, walls or tabletops.
 
Nowadays, families are more likely to display dolls of the Imperial couple alone and celebrate with children's parties in the week before the day. But festivals across Japan still offer major displays of Hinamatsuri dolls for everyone to see.

 

 

A set of Hinamatsuri Dolls Day  S Kitahashi CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 

In Tokyo, vintage dolls are displayed on the Hyakudan Kaidan (Hundred Steps Staircase) of the Meguro Gajoen building, while department stores often showcase historical and new styles of festival dolls. To experience something more akin to the Hinamatsuri’s origin, the “doll floating” at the Edo Nagashibina Festival in Tokyo’s Asakusa district, involves dropping little paper dolls into the Sumida River to drift away, taking with them bad spirits and woes.

One of the most famous and striking celebrations, however, can be found in Chiba Prefecture, where the Katsura Big Hinamatsuri Festival involves around 30,000 dolls displayed throughout the city and on the steps of the Tomisaki Shrine.

We find this auspicious day a perfect excuse to treat the kids — so why not take a look at our Children's Collection of bright and cheery items and have a little fun.

 

 

Hinamatsuri, Girl's Day Japanese wagashi sweets shaped as the emperor and empress' kimono and three lanterns ©Mio Yamada / NiMi Projects

Girl's Day Table: Hinamatsuri Classics

Chosen for their bright colours, texture and ties to spring renewal, both sweet and savoury foods mark Japan’s Girls’ Day on 3rd March. These dishes are not only enjoyed by families but small portions are often offered to the hina dolls and displayed with them.

• Hishimochi:
Diamond-shaped rice cakes in three colours — pink, white, green — stacked to echo hina doll tiers. These are soft, slightly sweet, and symbolic of growth.

• Shirozake:
Sweet white, non-alcoholic sake, made with fermented rice and mirin. This is usually served warm in tiny cups and often served to children at celebrations.

• Hina-arare:
Tiny, crisp rice puffs and nuts coloured pink, white, and green. Subtly sweet and similar to rainbow rice puffs, these are usually displayed as offerings, but are also a delicious snack.

• Chirashizushi:
Vinegared sushi rice topped with shredded egg, lotus root, shrimp, shiitake, sashimi and snow peas. The topping is scattered, making chirashizushi a colourful, festive table centrepiece.

• Kusa-mochi:
Yomogi (Japanese mugwort) rice cakes. The mugwort give these mochi cakes a pale green and a faint herbal note.

• Sakura-mochi: Fragrant, cherry leaf-wrapped soft rice cakes, filled with sweet red-bean paste. A seasonal favourite, the edible, pickled leaves of sakura-mochi lend a subtle saltiness and umami flavour  that balances the sweetness of the rich bean paste.

Read our other NiMi Projects journal articles here.