Hinamatsuri: Japanese Doll Festival

In celebration of Hinamasturi, also known as Japanese Doll Festival or Girls' Day, which is held on March 3, we will be displaying our Hina-ningyo (Japanese doll) set in our meeting room for the month of February and the first week of March. This custom of displaying dolls begain during the Heian period (8-10th century AD) when people believed that the dolls possessed the power to contain evil spririts. Hinamatsuri traces its origins to an ancient Japanese custom called hina-nagashi, in which straw hina dolls were set afloat on a boat and sent down river to the sea, symbolically taking evil spirits with them. In Japan, families typically start displaying their dolls in February to pray for young girl's growth and happiness and take them down immediately after the festival. Superstitution says that leaving the dolls out past March 4 will result in a late marriage for the daughter.

Reservations

This is a free exhibit and no reservation is required. If you are coming in a large group of 10 or more, please contact us beforehand to let us know.

Dates

February 5th through March 9th

Hours

Tuesday: 12pm to 7pm
Wednesday: 12pm to 4pm
Thursday: 12pm to 7pm
Friday: 12pm to 4pm
Saturday 2/9 & 2/23 & 3/9: 12pm to 4:30pm