Hina Matsuri Dolls Travel Tip

On March 3rd, on Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival), the families with daughters exhibit gorgeous sets of dolls dressed in the Heian period style, the Hina Matsuri dolls (hina-ningyo).
The Hina Matsuri sets (new or passed from generation to generation) are gifts given to the little girl by parents or grandparents. A new set is very expensive, usually starting from 50-60.000 yen (5-600 USD) and going up to 1 million yen. I even saw sets with a price tag of 3 million yen - over 30000 USD!

A full set is comprised of several dolls, carefully arranged in an established order: the Emperor and the Empress, three court ladies (sannin-kanjo), five musicians (gonin-bayashi), two ministers (udaijin and sadaijin), three servants and a variety of miniature furniture, tools, carriages. However, a full set is not only very expensive but also takes a lot of place, so the most popular sets include only the Emperor and the Empress.

Travel Tip: There's a group of 6-7 stores specialized in Hina Matsuri dolls around the JR Asakusabashi Station, Tokyo. If you visit Tokyo, take 3-4 hours to visit them and you will not regret it! The dolls are amazingly beautiful, in a variety of styles not matched by any museum.