In Japan, on March 3rd, Hina Matsuri, people pray for their daughters’ future happiness, health and growth.

Hina means doll and matsuri means festival, so Hina Matsuri is literally Doll Festival. It’s also Girls’ Day. Yet another name for the day is Momo no Sekku meaning Peach Blossom Festival, because this is around the time the peach blossoms bloom. Peach blossoms also are a symbol for a happy marriage.

The hina used for this festival are called hina ningyo. These are a set of dolls that are handed down from generation to generation which are only taken out for this festival. The hina ningyo are displayed on a special stand that has tiers which are covered in red cloth. The two most important hina are the Emperor and Empress. They sit on the top tier. On the second tier are 3 ladies in waiting. On the third tier sit 5 male musicians. One plays a drum, one plays a flute and the third is a singer. The fourth tier has 2 ministers, followed by 3 servants on the fifth tier. The sets have up to 15 dolls, but not all families have the whole set. Many will just have a couple of dolls, often a man and a lady on one tier. Others will use paper dolls.

The tradition of displaying dolls for Hina Matsuri dates back to the Edo or Tokugawa Period, which was from about 1600 to 1867. It comes from an old custom in China to float paper dolls down the river to take away evil spirits. This is still practiced in some places in Japan and is called Hina Nagashi Matsuri or Floating Dolls Festival. The girls will place two paper dolls in a boat made of wood or straw with rice cakes to take away bad luck, illness and misfortune. In some places they will float paper dolls down the river without a little boat.

Girls dress up specially on this day in their best kimonos. Some girls will dress up like the dolls and have little parties. They will serve hishi mochi which are diamond-shaped rice cakes with three to five layers. They also serve a mild sweet white saki called shirozake.

There’s an old traditional song that’s sung for the Festival. Here it is in transliterated Japanese, and with a loose English translation…

Hina Matsuri Song

Transliterated Japanese

Akari o tsukema sho bon bori ni
O hana o agemasyo momo no hana
Gonin – bayashi no fue daiko
Kyoo wa tanoshii Hina Matsuri

Loose English Translation

Let’s light the lanterns on the tiered stand
Let’s put peach blossoms on the tiered stand
Five court musicians are playing flutes and drums
Today is a happy Dolls’ Festival.

Japanese Text for the Hina Matsuri Song

MP3 of the Hina Matsuri Song

Please see the comments below this post for the other three verses to the Hina Matsuri Song, in Japanese text only.

Here’s another version of the Hina Matsuri Song.

Right after the festival, the dolls are supposed to be put away. If not, it’s thought that the daughter will be slow to marry.

Happy Hina Matsuri!

Lisa

You can read more about the Origin of Hina Matsuri and Hina Nagashi Matsuri in a later blog post.

You can visit the Mama Lisa’s World Hina Matsuri Song Page for sheet music for this song.

Many thanks to Sakura and Hatsami for singing the Hina Matsuri Song and to Peter Galante of Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com for allowing us to use this wonderful recording! The recording is from their podcast about the Hina Matsuri Festival (it’s mainly in English).

Many thanks to Devon of Head, Shoulders, Knees and all that and Ayako Egawa for bringing this festival to my attention, and to Devon for sending me the Japanese text.

Check out Origami Instructions to make Hina Dolls

Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World Japan Page for more Japanese Songs with their English translations.