To give a bit more history about the festival, I quote wiki...
The custom of displaying dolls began during the Heian period. Formerly, people believed the dolls possessed the power to contain bad spirits. Hinamatsuri traces its origins to an ancient Japanese custom called hina-nagashi (雛流し, lit. "doll floating"), in which straw hina dolls are set afloat on a boat and sent down a river to the sea, supposedly taking troubles or bad spirits with them. The Shimogamo Shrine (part of the Kamo Shrine complex in Kyoto) celebrates the Nagashibina by floating these dolls between the Takano and Kamo Rivers to pray for the safety of children. People have stopped doing this now because of fishermen catching the dolls in their nets. They now send them out to sea, and when the spectators are gone they take the boats out of the water and bring them back to the temple and burn them.
The customary drink for the festival is shirozake, a sake made from fermented rice. A colored hina-arare, bite-sized crackers flavored with sugar or soy sauce depending on the region, and hishimochi, a diamond-shaped colored rice cake, are served.[3] Chirashizushi (sushi rice flavored with sugar, vinegar, topped with raw fish and a variety of ingredients) is often eaten. A salt-based soup called ushiojiru containingclams still in the shell is also served. Clam shells in food are deemed the symbol of a united and peaceful couple, because a pair of clam shells fits perfectly, and no pair but the original pair can do so.
Families generally start to display the dolls in February and take them down immediately after the festival. Superstition says that leaving the dolls past March 4 will result in a late marriage for the daughter.[4]
I have done this for about 4 years now, and so it was no big deal to do it again this weekend. The town that holds the festival is one of those places in Japan that has restored its main street to its traditional form, with cobbled roadways and wooden store fronts. It is also a hot spot for organic/hippy establishments such as a traditional sake brewery and an organic bakery. Very cute and very touristy, but still nice. During the festival the store fronts and houses along the main road display old dolls as well as hand-made dolls or contemporary art dolls.
The first day of the festival Motoaki actually had to go to a seminar in another city, so I ended up not working but just going around with some friends and Finn. Finn of course was the belle of the ball and kept getting stopped for his picture taken. I was relieved in that he didn't jump on anyone, bark at anyone, or pee on anyone. He doesn't get out much and so I was nervous he was going to be a big pain, but he did fairly well. Still, I only stayed about an hour and a half.
The second day of the festival was pouring down with rain and so their was a poor turn out. I had "advertised" on Facebook but could understand that few friends came. In a way that was better because I was actually able to help Motoaki with his work. He has a lot of "special needs helpers" but some of them get tired easily or are shy with large crowds, and thus aren't able to help as much. We sold locally grown tea, jam made from locally grown pears, grapes, and yuzu, and small handi-crafts made by the special needs people. We also sold hand-made konnyaku, which is a type of jelly made from a potato/yam like vegetable/root. The stuff pops everywhere and some foreigners hate it. I don't really think it has taste so I don't really mind finding it in soup, meat dishes, etc But I was surprised to hear our group claiming the konnyaku we were selling could be eaten "as is." Aka, salty jell-o... Despite me doubts, it was a big seller.
Our other big seller was Hina Matsuri mochi, or strawberry rice cakes with sweet red beans for filling. These are a bit of an acquired tasted, but after living here, I can eat them. Still, I let the customers have them.
The festival this year was fairly uneventful though the highlight was definitely when the young girl I talked about in a previous blog post showed up. Being a kid she was quick to point out that some of the art work done by the special needs people, "Wasn't very good. It looks like a kid drew it. I could draw better than that." LOL!!! Fair enough, the drawing she pointed at was more to sell the handmade frame, not the art. I felt bad because it would have been fun to walk around with her. But seeing as it was pouring down cold rain, her father wanted to get home quick (he had ridden in a bike marathon earlier) and they only stayed for a short while.
Anyway, not a fascinating post but just thought I would share. Below is a picture (the last one) of Motoaki and his sister selling stuff and then pictures from previous years. I was too busy with Finn the first day and it was too rainy the second day to take anymore shots this year.
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