The Ultimate Guide to Hinamatsuri Girl Power

Girl power delivers a mighty punch of pastels and prettiness on March 3rd in Japan. Why? Hinamatsuri. The kanji (Chinese characters) translates to Dolls’ Festival. Hinamatsuri is also referred to as Girls’ Day.
Stroll into any department store (mid-February until March 3.) You’ll see Hinamatsuri displays. Entire Imperial Courts are replicated with dolls. Exquisite kimono embrace porcelain figures with delicate faces. Less expensive Hello Kitty variations of the doll set appear, too.

In the depa-chika (department store basements) Hinamatsuri cakes and Japanese rice crackers entice customers, too. Definitely make time for a depa-chika experience. (Japanese department store basements give London’s famed Harrods’ food court a run for their money.)

Today Hinamatsuri dolls, hishi-mochi (rice cakes) and hina-arare (assorted crackers) contribute to a beautiful girl power party. However, Hinamatsuri was developed as a strategy to protect daughters from harm. Dolls were cast into the sea (or a river) taking with them any dangerous spirits. The idea was that disease and evil was transferred to the dolls. Hina-nagashi “doll floating” is the name of the practice.

Hinamatsuri treats also have history. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, right?
Hishi-mochi are diamond-shaped tricolored mochi (pounded rice) cakes. 
The standard trio of colors is pink, white and green. 
Pink symbolizes good health; the white layer promises longevity; green signifies new life.

Sprinkle your sushi rice with auspiciousness.
Chirashi is sushi rice topped with (a variety of goodies and) good luck foods on Girls’ Day. Shrimp symbolizes longevity.
Green soybeans are sprinkled atop vinegar-infused rice. Mame (soybeans) are seen as providers of energy. Impress your Japanese friends with this expression: “mame ni hataraku.” (With soybeans you can work…Implying if you are healthy and able to work for a long time, income will keep flowing your way.) (Kuromame black soybeans are served for the same reason on New Year’s Day.)
Lotus roots (renkon another New Year’s food) is served atop chirashi sushi. The multiple openings of the lotus root are thought to enhance perspective. The vegetable is propitious for allowing an unobstructed long-term view.

Happy as a clam.
Osuimono (clear soup) made with clams is also served for Hinamatsuri. The nobles of the Heian period played with painted clamshells. It was a matching game. Those whose shells were the most similar were said to be compatible sweethearts.
Side note: The Heian paintings in the clam (hamaguri) shells are amazing.
Travel to Awashima Shrine in Wakayama (south of Osaka) to witness hina-nagashi. Or take a train to Katsuura in Chiba. (Depending on whether you catch an express or local; 2 to 3 hours by train from Tokyo.) Everyone from the banker, to the baker, to the bookstore owner displays his or her best Hinamatsuri doll sets in Katsuura.

Japan’s Hinamatsuri coincides with peach blossom season. March 3rd in Japan is one beautiful girl power party. P.s. On March 4th, everyone takes down his or her Hinamatsuri displays. Superstition dictates this nationwide action. Daughters are allegedly doomed to spinsterhood if the dolls remain after March 4th.

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