Doll Festival

March 3rd is "Doll Festival" day (also known as "Girls' Day"), a day where parents celebrate their daughters by displaying dolls of the emperor, empress and their court. They also make dolls ("hina" in Japanese) out of paper. The sweet couple that I met the other week who so graciously offered me the spinach, invited Ashlyn and I back to their house for today's festivities. Not knowing exactly what to expect, we headed over there, along with Rachel, another gal from the squadron. The couple was so sweet and hosptiable, proudly showing off their heirloom dolls (the cloth ones on the left are 120 years old, passed down through the generations). We were offered traditional festival foods, such as sakura-mochi, which is mochi (sweet rice paste) folded over bean curd paste and wrapped in a cherry leaf - actually quite delicious, then grapefruit that was made into a gelatin and served in the grapefruit rind, and of course green tea! The other traditional decoration is handmade dolls/figurines that hang from a red string - we made one!! This is definitely a day to remember.