Hinamatsuri: Let’s Hear It for the Girls

Every year on March 3rd, the people of Japan celebrate Hinamatsuri. This annual festival, traditionally known as the Peach Festival, honors the health and happiness of young girls and women. In homes and public spaces around the country, beautiful displays of seated mebina and obina, male and female dolls respectively, sit pride of place calling to memory a wedding during the Heian period. Today, friends gather to enjoy the company of other women while eating some of the most delicious traditional treats and sharing in collective revelry. This year, I was so lucky to be one of them!

On a very rainy and cold March morning, I was invited to a lovely ladies luncheon for Hinamatsuri with some of my favorite people here in Japan. This collection of women, each from a different country, are my OGs here in Tokyo. We all arrived around the same time and have become a source of support and friendship as we have navigated our new home.

Our hostess set a stunning table and prepared some of the most delectable traditional dishes including Chirashizushi, a vibrant dish with perfectly steamed rice topped with raw fish, vegetables and edible flowers, Hamaguri no Suimono, an unbelievable—I mean absolutely dreamy—clam soup, and karaage, the always crowd-pleasing crispy wok-fried chicken.

Typically, this lunch is served with sake, but we preferred a little bubbly to toast to the power of female friendships, the beauty of global citizenship and the joy of experiencing another’s culture in the comfort of their gorgeous home. I am so blessed!