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| Hina Matsuri card |
Yesterday in Japan it was Hina Matsuri, also known as Girls' Day or Doll's Day. During February, families with daughters will set up a lavish display of dolls in the hope of their daughter making a good marriage. The main celebration is on the 3rd of March and if you leave the dolls up past the 4th then it is considered bad luck.
The traditional display is made up of seven platforms, with the Emperor and Empress at the top and then the attendants and the musicians. I don't own a full set but I do have the Emperor and Empress, however they are in England! I did get sent a really nice Hina Matsuri card though.
On this day the main tradition is the dolls, however we also had a special meal. We ate yellow, green, pink and beige rice balls. This isn't a typical tradition but these colours are representative of the start of spring. We also ate salad and miso soup.
Then we had some really pretty Hina Matsuri sweets, they almost looked too good to eat. Almost. We also drank ama zake, a type of sweet sake made from rice. We finished off with Hina Arare which are small, colourful crackers with a variety of flavours.
I think it`s nice that in Japan there is a day of celebration just for girls. Do you know of any other countries which have celebrations like this?
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| Spring rice balls |
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| Hina Matsuri sweets |
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| Sake and Hina Arare |
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| Peach blossom |
That's a really interesting tradition! And that food looks delicious. :)
ReplyDeleteThe food was very delicious!
DeleteMy husband's family always celebrated boy's day in his family. I look forward to carrying on these traditions with our future children.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to seeing all the carp streamers in Kyoto on boy's day. I think it's nice to carry on these traditions with your children.
DeleteMy friend posted something about this the other day and I had no idea what it was so thanks for posting this! Those sweets look yummy :)
ReplyDeleteGlad I could help explain what it is :) The sweets were yummy!
DeleteWhat an interesting day to celebrate. Love the flower at the end.
ReplyDeleteIt is one of Japan's many interesting celebrations! The flowers were really pretty.
DeleteWow these are amazing looking foods! Thanks for saying hello today!! xoxo Katie
ReplyDeleteYes, Japan has a lot of amazing food!
DeleteWhat gorgeous sweets! I love the colours. Thank you for linking up for Travel Tuesday! x
ReplyDeleteThe sweets in Japan are often very intricate and colourful! I always enjoy linking up for Travel Tuesday :)
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