Next: 3 Mar 2027
Hinamatsuri
Japan's Doll Festival is also Momo no Sekku, the peach blossom festival.
What happens
On 3 March families with daughters set out a tiered stand of dolls dressed as an emperor, an empress and their court. The day's older name is Momo no Sekku, the peach festival, because in the old lunar calendar it fell when peach trees were in flower. Peach blossom was believed to drive away bad spirits, and a few branches are still placed beside the dolls. On the stand itself stand two small trees, a cherry on one side and a tachibana orange on the other.
The flowers
Original text by the Phool desk, written with AI assistance. Background: "Hinamatsuri" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Tachibana orange: 鳥羽商工会議所, Attribution, source
- Peach: Jack Dykinga, USDA, Public domain, source
- Cherry blossom: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, source