Hina Matsuri

Hina Matsuri is a Japanese festival that falls every year on March 3. It began in ancient times as a Shinto effigy ceremony to prepare farmers for the planting of spring crops: They would rub their negative energy off onto a paper doll, then float it down the river.

Shinto is the official religion of Japan. It is an optimistic faith: Shinto followers believe that humans are fundamentally good, and evil spirits cause evil in the world. Shinto's honor the kami-- spiritual essences that live in nature within the mountains, trees, and rivers. Shinto tradition says that there are eight million million kami in Japan.

Today girl's set up displays of dolls, have a tea party, and- yes- some people still send dolls down the river.

Agenda today:
1. Set intentions
2. Make hina dolls
3. Make paper boats
4. The hina-okuri ceremony
5. Make hishi mochi and have a tea party
6. Prepare garden beds for planting

1. Set intentions:
To prepare for the coming spring, today I will decide what issues and ills of mine I would like to send away. If I’m ready to release some of the weight I carry, then today is a good day to set that intention. 

I know that this is an ongoing process! My problems will not go away like magic, but naming them and choosing to release them is a good first step.

Today I make a list of all the issues and habits I wish I didn’t have- indifference, fear, self-judgments, petty annoyances, and obsessive attachments- then I circle 2 or 3 that I’m ready to release today.

2. Make Hina Dolls:

Hina dolls made by my students.

In the days leading up to Hina Matsuri, children display a collection of dolls, including the emperor and empress dolls, with many attendants. These hina dolls are often very elaborate, but children also make simple dolls, using origami paper for beautiful kimonos.

My art class students and I usually make dolls together each year, but this year we won't get the chance, so I've re-posted pictures from earlier years. We usually make two dolls each- one to keep and one to float down river.

Collar folded down.

Supplies: White paper strips (6-inches by 3/4-inch), plain and patterned origami paper, scissors, black paper for hair (tissue or crepe paper), glue stick

1. For the basic kimono, cut 2 sheets of 6” origami paper in half, and put them backside to backside.

Fold top down to make the collar.

Folding the kimono

2. Make some folds to fit the kimono around the white strip- fold the collar at an angle on each side, then fold the edges in to wrap around (this is sometimes tricky and takes some adjusting).

3. Cut and glue hair at the top of the white strip. (It's helpful to look at pictures of Japanese dolls and hairstyles- be imaginative and creative!)

4. Cut a strip for an obi (belt) and glue in place and add other fun details, such as a comb for the hair cut from paper, or a fan.

Decorating the boat

3. Make paper boats:
We also make these beautiful paper boats to carry our dolls away, following the instructions at the Adventures of Captain Crafty site (which is now defunct).

Supplies: Large square of freezer paper, permanent markers, a wooden skewer

1- Cut a large square of freezer paper. Decorate the waxed side with permanent pens. 

2- Fold as the diagram shows, with waxed side up. 

3- Later we poked a skewer through the boats to hold the dolls in place.

4. The Hina-okuri ceremony:
Late in the afternoon some Japanese families perform the purification custom called hina-okuri: By stroking or breathing on the dolls they symbolically inject them with their own wrongdoings or ills, then they pile their dolls in a small wooden boat, and float them down the river! The river ritually bathes the dolls, and purifies the souls of the doll's owners. 

People in many cultures make effigy dolls in the spring to symbolically absorbs all bad luck and negative energy (see Maslenitsa for another example). 

As with any form of Shinto worship we begin with ritual washing, pouring water over our hands.

The second step is an offering to the kami. In this case, we are offering a paper doll. We each write down what we want to release on the paper inside our hina dolls.

Next we each take the doll in our hands, close our eyes, concentrate on those issues we are releasing, breathe on the doll, and wish that energy onto it.


Next we offer a silent prayer to the kami, of thanksgiving and petition for the future.

Finally, we send the dolls away: We take them to the creek and throw them into the current!

5. Make Hishi Mochi and have a tea party:

In Japan, children often share a tea party with friends on Hina Matsuri, with sweet sticky hishi mochi (HEE-she MO-chee), with pink, white, and green layers. White is for purification, green stands for health, and pink will chase away evil spirits. The recipe is here.

Make a ceremonial pot of tea to celebrate your new life. Set a nice table, with a flower; put on some Japanese music; choose a beautiful bowl to drink from; make and drink the tea with attention to every scent and taste.

6. Prepare garden beds for planting: 

Remember- the root purpose of Hina Matsuri is to prepare ourselves for spring planting. Usually in my valley March 3rd is not too early to prepare a bed to plant early greens or onions. Tomorrow I plan to loosen and mulch my onion and kale bed.