Hinamatsuri
March 3, Sunday
Hinamatsuri also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, is a religious (Shinto) holiday in Japan, celebrated on 3 March of each year. Platforms covered with a red carpet–material are used to display a set of ornamental dolls (hina-ningyō) representing the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period.
Hinamatsuri is one of the five seasonal festivals (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 (Momo no Sekku), as peach trees typically began to flower around this time. Although this is no longer true since the shift to Gregorian dates, the name remains and peaches are still symbolic of the festival.