Doll Festival in Takatori-cho

Village of the dolls

Cathy Cawood Feb 13, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>The doll with the red face has been drinking!</p>

<p>Large and ornate Hinamatsuri display</p>

<p>One of the male Hinamatsuri dolls</p>

<p>This Hinamatsuri display has a gold screen behind the emperor and empress</p>

<p>The dolls represent members of the Heian imperial court</p>

<p>This doll is wearing the twelve-layer kimono of the Heian era</p>

<p>Beautiful old room full of treasures</p>

<p>This barber was telling the story of Momotaro to his captive audience</p>

<p>Rural Takatori-cho is surrounded by countryside</p>

<p>A posse of scooters cruise down Takatori-cho's main street</p>

March 3rd is Hinamatsuri, or girls' day. To celebrate this festival, households with daughters set up elaborate displays of dolls. If you'd like to read about the dolls, there is a good article on Wikipedia. The village of Takatori-cho in Nara celebrates this festival for the whole month of March. Many homes and even businesses set up doll displays, some of them very old, and open their homes to the public. I enjoyed the doll displays very much, but I also really appreciated the friendliness of the local people, and the opportunity to get a glimpse inside some of the lovely old houses.

Cathy Cawood @cathy.cawood

I came to Japan in 2003 to teach English. I lived in Shiga prefecture for 1 year, and it still holds a special place in my heart. I lived in Kyoto for 9 years, then moved to Machida, Tokyo in 2014 after meeting my Japanese partner. I love to take photos, and my Japan in Pictures Facebook page ha...