Hinamatsuri

Today, as I do every year, I put up this display of hinamatsuri dolls in the school's lobby. Hinamatsuri, or Girl's Festival Day, is held on March 3rd. Displays of dolls like these, representing the Emperor, Empress, musicians, courtiers, artisans and royal attendants, are often displayed in people's homes or in public buildings for up to one month before this date. The dolls are dressed in clothes from the Heian Era from which this tradition dates. At that time, straw dolls would be sent floating down the river, the dolls carrying away the evil spirits which had been trapped inside of them. There is a superstition which states that if the dolls are not put away on March 4th, then any girl living in the household where they are displayed will have a late marriage, so I always try to dismantle the display on time.