Happy Hinamatsuri!
Happy what?! Hinamatsuri, or Girl’s Day, is celebrated on March 3rd in Japan. The day is meant to be a special day to be thankful for our daughters and to pray that they will have happy, successful lives.
Traditionally, Japanese families with daughters have a special set of dolls called Hina Ningyo that are brought out for this day only. If the dolls are not stored away quickly after the festival, superstition says the daughters will marry late! (That’s one way to teach kids to clean up!) These sets can be just a simple set of Emperor and Empress or may include an entire court. Usually these elaborate sets are passed from mother to daughter throughout generations. (The beautiful set pictured belongs to my friend Yuko, who lives here in Putnam County.)
It is considered to be extremely good luck for a girl to be born on this day. Having said that, I’d like to wish my Mom a very happy birthday. 
If you have a daughter, treat her extra special — it’s her day today!
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:20 am
I have never heard of Hinamatsuri. My girls will be happy to hear of it though, they might want a gift.
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I recieved a You Make My Day Award and I am passing it on to you!
Here are the obligatory “rules” that go with this award…
1) Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think and/or make your day
2) Acknowledge the post of the award giver
3) Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news!
Thank you for adding to my day through your blog!
amodernguy
March 4th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Darn, I wish I would have read this earlier. It made me cry, thinking about how special my little girl is. We made green eggs today in honor of Dr. Suess, who she is studying at school.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Took mine out for ice cream … it’s a Monday thing.