Mar 13, 2015 - 1 min read

Makabe Hina Doll Festival Displays

Tradition meets creative genius in Ibaraki

By Sandra Isaka

Community writer

This beautiful kimono adds an unusual backdrop to a pair of traditional hina dolls.

These traditional hina dolls are being visited by a collection of kimono-clad foxes in a wedding procession!

What a fantastic way to present hina dolls - in an antique Japanese chest and closet.

A beautiful example of a traditional hina doll display.

Makabe is famous for its stone carving. Take home one of these cute lanterns for your own home.

This is an interesting mix of hina doll and mikoshi (portable float).

Hina dolls made of stained glass.

This entire 'room' was created to display a variety of dolls.

Another stone carver has made what is probably the heaviest hina doll display in Japan. Impressive!

You can't tell unless you get up close, but this is an amazing example of Japanese paper cutting.

A perfect mix of tradition & originality. This hina doll display was hidden in a side room of one of the sake breweries.

Every year, from early February to early March, the town of Makabe, in Ibaraki Prefecture, holds a fantastic Hina Doll Festival. Many gorgeous, and often antique, hina dolls are on exhibit. The residents of this town also use their creative minds to design 'original' hina-related displays which are often even more impressive than the originals.

Things to Do in Ibaraki

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Sandra Isaka

By Sandra Isaka

Community writer

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Elizabeth S

Elizabeth S 3 years ago

I hope we can see the Makabe Hinamatsuri in 2022...

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Jihad Mahmoud

Jihad Mahmoud 8 years ago

Wow! The amount of creativity here!

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Preethu 8 years ago

kawai ne!

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FebiNU

FebiNU 8 years ago

super cute

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Cathy Cawood

Cathy Cawood 8 years ago

Nice! That's the first time I've seen fox dolls!

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Guillaume Doré

Guillaume Doré 8 years ago

They are cute. I love the Inari shrines with the fox, so that's pretty cool.

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