3 March is Hina Matsuri ３月３日はひな祭り

 

Hinamatsuri is one of the five seasonal festivals (五節句, gosekku) that are held on auspicious dates of the Chinese calendar: the first day of the first month, the third day of the third month, and so on. After the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, these were fixed on 1 January, 3 March, 5 May, 7 July, and 9 September. The festival was traditionally known as the Peach Festival (桃の節句, Momo no Sekku), as peach trees typically began to flower around this time.^[4] Although this is no longer true since the shift to Gregorian dates, the name remains and peaches are still symbolic of the festival.^[5]

The primary aspect of Hinamatsuri is the display of seated male and female dolls (the obina (男雛, "male doll") and mebina (女雛, "female doll")), which represent a Heian period wedding,^[5] but are usually described as the Emperor and Empress of Japan.^[6] The dolls are usually seated on red cloth, and may be as simple as pictures or folded paper dolls, or as intricate as carved three-dimensional dolls. More elaborate displays will include a multi-tiered doll stand (雛壇, hinadan) of dolls that represent ladies of the court, musicians, and other attendants, with all sorts of accoutrements. The entire set of dolls and accessories is called the hinakazari (雛飾り).^[4] The number of tiers and dolls a family may have depends on their budget.

Families normally ensure that girls have a set of the two main dolls before their first Hinamatsuri. The dolls are usually fairly expensive ($1,500 to $2,500 for a five-tier set, depending on quality) and may be handed down from older generations as heirlooms. The hinakazari spends most of the year in storage, and girls and their mothers begin setting up the display a few days before 3 March (boys normally do not participate, as 5 May, now Children's Day was historically called "Boys' Day").^[7] Traditionally, the dolls were supposed to be put away by the day after Hinamatsuri, the superstition being that leaving the dolls any longer will result in a late marriage for the daughter,^[8] but some families may leave them up for the entire month of March.^[7] Practically speaking, the encouragement to put everything away quickly is to avoid the rainy season and humidity that typically follows Hinamatsuri.^[9]

Historically, the dolls were used as toys,^[6] but in modern times they are intended for display only.^[7] The display of dolls is usually discontinued when the girls reach 10 years old.^[6]

During Hinamatsuri and the preceding days, girls hold parties with their friends. Typical foods include hina-arare (雛あられ, multi-colored rice crackers), chirashizushi (ちらし寿司, raw fish and vegetables on rice in a bowl or bento box), hishi mochi (菱餅, multi-colored rice cakes),^[4] ichigo daifuku (いちご大福, strawberries wrapped in adzuki bean paste), Sakuramochi (桜餅) and ushiojiru (うしお汁, clam soup, as clam shells represent a joined pair).^[5] The customary drink is shirozake (白酒, lit. "white sake"), also called lit. "sweet sake" (甘酒, amazake), a non-alcoholic sake.^[10][5]

Nagashi-bina (流し雛, lit. "doll floating") ceremonies are held around the country, where participants make dolls out of paper or straw and send them on a boat down a river, carrying one's impurities and sin with them. Some locations, such as at the Nagashibina Doll Museum in Tottori City, still follow the lunisolar calendar instead of doing it on 3 March.^[11]

Tsurushi-Bina (雛祭り, lit. "Hanging Dolls"), traditional decoration for Hinamatsuri, are lengths of coloured cords (usually in red), usually featuring decorations of miniature baby-dolls, which were originally made from leftover kimono silk (so the idea of repurposing fabric scraps is central to this craft; it is a great activity for using up left over materials). Tsurushi-Bina are not limited to featuring miniature baby-dolls, but also flowers (i.e. camellia flower, etc.), shells, Tamari balls, colourful triangles to represent mountains (such as Mount Fuji, etc.), etc., and with tassels at the bottom.

An old tradition now forgotten is that during the Chōyō no Sekku the dolls are brought out again to air, making it a Hinamatsuri for adults.

Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri

Live Japan:

See each region in Japan has their own style of Hina doll displays  

https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0000994/