Hinamatsuri, Doll Festival of Japan (March 3, 2007)

Hinamatsuri (or Hina Matsuri or Doll Festival or Girls' Day) is a traditional Japanese holiday when "people pray for the happiness and healthy growth of girls. Families with young daughters mark this day by setting up a display of dolls inside the house." (http://web-Japan.org/kidsweb/calendar/march/hinamatsuri.html)

To get you in the spirit, check out our varied collection of dolls, some Japanese, as well as dolls in African, Asian, European, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Native American, Pacific Islander, and U.S. costume.

We also have pictures of dolls, including Japanese dolls and Native American Kachina dolls.

You might like to celebrate with some videos that feature dolls, such as Sally, the rag doll in Tim Burton's The nightmare before Christmas, the nutcracker doll and Coppelía of ballet fame, and Barbie in the 12 dancing princesses. Balance that last one out with Barbie nation: an unauthorized tour. Or for a less literal take on dolls, try Ibsen's A doll's house or the French film Les poupées russes (Russian dolls) about an indecisive thirty-year-old looking for love.

The video Living treasures of Japan pays a visit to a maker of traditional dolls.

In kids' books, we have a number of stories featuring dolls (select youth under audience and check prose on the Fiction & Literature Media Finder)