Today, the Lower School celebrated Japanese Girls’ Day with a presentation by four of our students.

Celebrated on March 3 every year, Hinamatsuri (Japanese Girls’ Day) is one of Japan’s most beautiful unofficial holidays; a day on which Japanese households with young daughters decorate their homes with ornamental dolls (Hina dolls) on red-cloth covered platforms. The dolls are said to represent the emperor, empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period, and are used to pray for girls’ prosperity, and health.

Dressed in kimonos and holding decorative fans, our presenting girls performed a cherry blossom dance with traditional Japanese music playing. The students then spoke using a slideshow to explain various aspects of Japanese Girls’ Day, including information about the specific arrangement of Hina dolls and the eating of special foods like mochi.