3 March - Hinamatsuri Day

It's Hinamatsuri Day (Doll's Day) in Japan. This is a reminder that you're supposed to get your girls something today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri

...or we are supposed to float them down a river into the sea to exorcise the bad spirits influencing our lives.

 

My Taobao order arrives today so I'm going to call that auspicious.

I work for a Japanese company and we have plenty of Japanese employees at the factory. I asked a few of them about Hinamatsuri Day.

 

"Doll's Day" or "Girl's Day" is a big deal there. Many families have doll displays (similar to the one shown in the Wikipedia article) that are brought out and put on display at this time of year. Think of it as something like a Christmas creche; but, in this case, a princess and prince are at the top of a red carpeted pyramid. Other members of the entourage are on the four levels below the top of the pyramid.

 

One of our Japanese employees was born in a christian family in Japan. Her mother forbade the celebration and the doll display. Another employee -- an American who is married to a Japanese woman -- says they have the whole doll setup. He says, "Most of the time, it just fills a closet. I resist getting it out because it fills half the room." And, another American employee who just returned from Japan said there were quite a few store displays of these dolls. Costs were typically $2000 and up.

 

And, last of all, the employee with the christian mother said there's another tradition associated, with doll day, too. It's OK to put the display up before the actual celebration. But, it shouldn't be left up for very long thereafter. Superstition has it that the longer the display stays up, the longer it will take the daughter to get married.

 

So. I assume, if you're 23 years old and still living with your parents -- and the Hinamatsuri dolls come down one minute after midnight on 4 March -- your parents are trying to "give you the hint."