The best thing about March is that we’re that much closer to April!
Here’s a fun poem about that very thought…
Never Mind, March
By Annette Wynne ( circa 1920)
Never mind, March, we know
When you blow
You're not really mad
Or angry or bad;
You're only blowing the winter away
To get the world ready for April and May.
You can read this poem and listen to a recording on the Mama Lisa website here.
You can find this and 84 more Poems About The Months Of The Year here.
The Doll Festival In Japan (Hina Matsuri)
March 3, 2021
Friend of the site Ayako Egawa wrote to us about The Japanese Doll Festival.
Hi Lisa,
March 3rd is the Doll Festival that families with daughters express wishes for their daughters’ good health and growth by displaying hina dolls as you know.
Hina dolls are traditionally displayed on stepped shelves, but I found hina dolls lined flat. These are smaller than usual too.
The other day my friend taught me how to make hina dolls with Origami. It is so complicated that it took me about an hour to make them, but I think they are pretty! They are a prince and princess.
I offer peach flowers and Hishimochi, diamond-shaped rice cake to hina dolls. That is the Japanese tradition.
Hishimochi consists of pink, white and green rice cakes. The pink tastes sweet, the green smells good.
The pink represents peach flowers, the white means snow, and the green means Yomogi, a Japanese green of early spring. [Yomogi is Japanese Mugwort.]
So it means: Under the snow, the green comes into bud, and over the snow, the peach flowers are in bloom. It shows an image of early spring in Japan.
Also the pink means charm, the white means purification, and the green means to drive away bad spirits.
Hope you enjoy our tradition!
Ayako
Thanks so much for sharing that with us Ayako!
You can read this post on our site here.
Read more about the Japanese Doll Festival here.
You can find the Hina Matsuri song here, and listen to recordings.
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