March third is celebrated as Hina Matsuri, or the Doll's Day Festival, with decorated sets of ornamental dolls and items representing the ancient Imperial court displayed on tiered platforms covered in red felt. Usually shown only in the family home, there are some public places to see these wonderful doll displays.
See the dolls only a princess of the mighty Tokugawa clan could own, gorgeously decorated with the richest of fabrics and with an exquisite amount of detail. The Tokugawa Art Museum displays the wonderful sets of high quality dolls handed down through the noble family.
Every year the Seto-Gura complex in central Seto City sets up a huge display of Hina-Matsuri festival dolls on a stand of over 4m in height. The popular Hina-mid, as the pyramid of dolls is called, features hundreds of not just ordinary dolls, but pottery dolls of clay and ceramic, even glass Hina Matsuri dolls too.
The old castle town of Asuke really gets into the Doll's Day Festival, with over 130 general houses, shops, restaurants along a 2km stretch between the Asuke Hachiman Shrine and the Chuma area putting on a worthy display of dolls, some dating back to the Edo period (1603-1868). The popular displays draw thousands of visitors to the traditional town.
