Japanese Doll Festival

Every year on March 3 in Japan a festival takes place called Hinamatsuri. This festival has many names including the doll festival and Girl’s Day. During this festival large tiered red platforms are created to display Japanese dolls. These dolls are referred to as hina-ningyo and are traditional ornamental dolls dressed in traditional clothing. Typically these dolls are created to represent the Emperor, the Empress, and their attendants and musicians. The placement of these dolls is often strictly adhered to.
The placement of the Japanese dolls is as follows: The top tier holds the Emperor and the Empress. The second tier holds three court ladies. The third tier is reserved for five musicians and the fourth tier contains two ministers. The bottom tier holds three servants. It is also typical for representations of household items such as small furniture and meals to be placed beside the Japanese dolls.
The festival actually draws its roots from the period in which it was tradition for Japanese dolls to be set afloat. This tradition was known as hina-nagashi and it entailed created straw hina dolls, putting them in boats and setting them afloat down the river and to the sea. This was supposed to carry away troubles and bad spirits. The practice of sending them down rivers has come out of practice as fishermen were often catching the dolls in their nets. Now the dolls are sent out to sea. Once the spectators have left the boats are collected and then brought back to the temple to be burned.
Today this day is meant as a way for families to wish their daughters happiness and a successful life. It is traditional for Japanese dolls to be displayed in the home along with peach blossoms and traditional sweet sake called amazake is served. This sake is non-alcoholic and made from fermented rice. There are also traditional forms of sushi and crackers that are meant to be eaten on this day.
There are even songs sung during the festival, one of which is Ureshii Hinamatsuri or Happy Hinamatsuri and the lyrics when translated to English are as follows:

Let's light the lanterns
Let's set peach flowers
Five court musicians are playing flutes and drums
Today is a joyful Dolls' Festival!