Shiozawa's Hina Matsuri (Doll's Festival)

In the lead up to the Doll's Festival on 3 Mar, Shiozawa town is holding a Doll's Festival exhibition. Many shops display sets of Hina dolls that are traditionally displayed in the homes of families with daughters. These sets of Hina dolls are bloody expensive! The largest set (8 tiers) costs about 200,000-yen (S$3,000), basically more than the cost of my car!

Small set in the garage of one house along the main shopping street

Slightly bigger set in a flower shop

Big set at a cake shop. It had 7 tiers. This set is more than 40 years old.

The top-most tier is always what appears to be the emperor and empress, followed by courtesans, treasure chests, wagons, cups and bowls.

No one has yet to be able to adequately explain to me why Japanese do this, but most say that the dolls are displayed about a month before the Doll's Festival and must be kept soon after the festival or the daughter(s) of that family will not be able to get married early.

Lonely grouchy snowman standing along the street

The usual festival street stalls

Daruma (dolls) for sale. Japanese usually buy these at the beginning of the year and write a wish on them. The dolls are then burnt at the beginning of the next year.