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[[fr:Hina Matsuri]]
[[pl:Hinamatsuri]]
[[Image:hinadolls.jpg|frame|A, kinga dollsweet, withnon-alcoholic, two[[beverage]] handmaidens.made from [[fermentation|fermented]] [[rice]] or [[sake]] lees.
'''Hinamatsuri''' or '''Girls' Day,''' (雛祭, ひなまつり;) is the '''[[Doll]] [[Festival]]''' in [[Japan]]. On [[March 3|3rd of March]], people display dolls (雛人形; hinaningyō) dressed in old-style [[kimono]]s. Tiered platforms are used to display a set of dolls representing the emperor, empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress. The custom of displaying dolls began during the [[Edo period]]. Formerly, people believed the dolls possessed the power to contain bad spirits in their bodies, and would thus save the owner from dangerous encounters.
The origin of ''Hinamatsuri'' is ''Hinanagashi'' (雛流し; literally, "doll floating";) in which paper dolls are put into a boat and sent on a journey down a river into the sea, taking with them the bad spirits.
It is a celebration especially for girls, and is sometimes called the "Girl's Festival".
The customary drink for the festival is ''amazake'', a sweet, non-alcoholic, [[beverage]] made from [[fermentation|fermented]] [[rice]] or [[sake]] lees.
Every family with a girl child has a dolls set. There are many legends about this Matsuri (festival), one of them is this: if the family forgot to retry the whole set before the night of 4th March, the girl won't marry before the next year.
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