Celebrating Hinamatsuri

Hi! It's me, Inky! Tonight I'm learning about a Japanese holiday called Hinamatsuri, or Girls' Day, with my friends Zoya Yumiko and Violet. Hinamatsuri is celebrated by Japanese families on March 3.

This is my friend Zoya Yumiko. She's half Japanese and used to live in Japan, so she knows all about Hinamatsuri.

On Hinamatsuri, families set up little scenes with dolls called hina ningyo. The dolls represent the traditional court of the Heian period.

Zoya is still collecting, so her set isn't complete. See the little emperor and empress? They're kitties!

Violet is here too! Zoya brought over really pretty, special cards for me and Violet.Violet was especially thrilled because she has actually been to Japan! She and Zoya chattered away about all their favorite things about the country.

See the card? It has the hina ningyo figures on it. Awesome!

Thanks for celebrating Hinamatsuri with us!

Does your family celebrate any special spring holidays?

In this entry: I'm wearing jeans from American Girl and a shirt from etsy. Zoya and Violet are wearing outfits from American Girl.

12 comments

UnknownMarch 3, 2013 at 9:34 AM
Hi Inky!
I used to celebrate Hina Matsuri when I lived with my mom, who is Japanese. However, when my brother and I moved in with her friend Skye, the tradition sort of dwindled, as I was too young to really know how to keep it going. Your post brought back so many fond memories!
The only special spring holidays we celebrate now are St. Patrick's Day and Easter, but we celebrate them as more secular, just-for-fun holidays than anything else.
Thank you for jogging my memory of such a fun holiday! ^_^
sophiaandemmaMarch 3, 2013 at 7:53 PM
Cool post. I really love the hello kitty dolls. I blogged about this too :) I'm also from Japan.
Amaya (friend of Sophia and Emma and occasional guest blogger on their blog)
AnonymousMarch 3, 2013 at 8:32 PM
Kewl, we were reading tonight and this is the third blog with it on and we had never heard of it before, we do not have anyone who is from oriental country to share it with us. Hmmm ..

We have not been doing a lot of blogging or reading so it is good to be back at it .. we have missed you and cannot wait to come visit you again .. hope it is soon.

Hugs, Taryn
Sophie Amélie MoreauMarch 4, 2013 at 2:57 PM
Hi Inky,

I think Hina Matsuri looks like a wonderful holiday to celebrate! The hina ningyo dolls are so cute - I love that they are kitties!

I celebrate Pâques (Easter) in the spring, of course, but I really love getting the chance to celebrate holidays from other cultures/religions. In a few weeks, my Jewish classmates will have a seder for Pesach (Passover), and they'll invite even us non-Jews to celebrate - I can't wait!

Sophie
UnknownMarch 13, 2013 at 9:56 AM
That's so cool! :)
CallieMarch 15, 2013 at 1:43 PM
Beautiful! I have a pen pal from Japan and she sent me a picture of her with her Girls' Day display. I love the cards and the little Hello Kitty figures :)