Once Setsubun has passed, the season for Hina Matsuri arrives.
It is said that the best time to put out Hina dolls is on the first auspicious day after the start of spring. In 2025, the first auspicious day after the start of spring fell on Saturday, February 8, so Hina dolls have begun appearing around town.
I moved to Kurashiki from the Kanto region in December 2023, and am now welcoming my second spring here.
Before moving to Kurashiki, I thought of Hina dolls as something you saw in people’s homes or at school. But I heard that in Kurashiki, the “Kurashiki Hina Doll Tour” is held, with Hina dolls displayed in shopfronts and other places throughout the city’s various districts.
I spoke with organizers about “Mizushima Hina Doll Tour,” which is said to have expanded in scale after the period of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The information provided was current when this article was published in February 2025. Please note that it may differ from current information.
What is the “22nd Kurashiki Hina Doll Tour”?
The Kurashiki Hina Doll Tour, which features Hina doll displays at facilities, shops, galleries, inns, and other venues in Kurashiki City, is being held for the 22nd time this year (2025).
From Saturday, February 22 to Sunday, March 9, five districts in Kurashiki City will hold Hina Matsuri events, each with its own theme.
- Kurashiki District: “Hina Dolls Bring Splendor to the White-Walled Town”
- Tamashima District: “A Culture of Tea and a Land of Peaches: Tamashima Port’s Hina Doll Extravaganza”
- Kojima: “A Lovely Day, a Lovely Taste: Hina Doll Tour”
- Mabi and Funao Districts: “A Town of Bamboo and a Sweet Pea Village Connected by Hina Dolls”
- Mizushima: “Everyone, Come Along! Mizushima Hina Doll Tour, Bringing Good Fortune!!”
What is the “22nd Mizushima Hina Doll Tour”?
Mizushima has participated in the Kurashiki Hina Doll Tour since its first year.
In 2025, displays will be held at 13 locations, mainly public facilities such as community centers and children’s centers. The displays will include traditional Hina doll arrangements as well as handmade Hina dolls created by local residents, including children.
Please see the image below for the exhibition venues.
The following ceremonial events are planned to mark the 22nd Mizushima Hina Doll Tour.
- Hina Train Departure Ceremony
- Opening Ceremony
- Hina Procession
During the event, anyone who gets at least five stamps on the stamp sheet included with the Mizushima Hina Doll Tour flyer will receive an entry to a drawing for a shopping voucher that can be used in Mizushima Shopping Street. Why not give it a try?
Interview with the 22nd Mizushima Hina Doll Tour Executive Committee
We spoke with Ozaki Hiroko, representative of the 22nd Mizushima Hina Doll Tour Executive Committee, about the history of the Mizushima Hina Doll Tour and what to look forward to in 2025.
Could you tell us about the history of the Mizushima Hina Doll Tour?
Ozaki (honorific omitted)
Many of the other districts have traditional Hina dolls, but Mizushima didn’t have the kind of magnificent dolls found in those districts.
So, in the early days, we displayed handmade Hina dolls in shopfronts along the shopping street and served visitors amazake. As the event continued, we used newspapers and other means to ask people to donate Hina dolls that were no longer being used in their homes, and we received a great many.
People buy Hina dolls to celebrate, so every family has an attachment to them, and they are expensive. It seems many residents felt that if the dolls were just going to sit unused in a chest of drawers, they would rather see them brought out into the light.
From around the third event onward, we displayed those Hina dolls in shops throughout Mizushima Shopping Street for some time. Back then, the event was held with the aim of revitalizing the shopping street.
We started the stamp rally, which is still held today, when the Hina Doll Tour took place in Mizushima Shopping Street. We wanted to do more than just let people look at the dolls: we wanted visitors to feel they were getting a good deal, then use any shopping vouchers they won in the drawing to shop and help energize the shopping street.
However, the spread of COVID-19 began in 2020, and people could no longer gather. Since the Mizushima Hina Doll Tour also involved food and drink, such as serving amazake, we were barely able to do anything for about three years.
When we finally resumed, Mizushima was also aging, and it seemed unlikely that we could hold the Hina Doll Tour in the shopping street. So we decided to use public facilities such as community centers. At the same time, we began displaying Hina dolls made by children at kindergartens and nursery schools in the community center districts.
Then, during the Hina Doll Tour, many children started coming to the community centers to see the Hina dolls they had made. The lively atmosphere became a topic of conversation at community centers throughout Mizushima, making it possible to hold the Hina Doll Tour at community centers across Mizushima. In 2025, the event will be held at 13 locations.
The 2025 Mizushima Hina Doll Tour has grown beyond Mizushima Shopping Street to become a major event throughout Mizushima. What is its aim?
Ozaki
Revitalizing the community.
In Mizushima, children from local junior high and high schools decorate Hina dolls together with local residents.
Some children today don’t have the custom of displaying Hina dolls at home. Local residents teach these children how to arrange the dolls and the story behind them. I feel that things which every household used to do as a matter of course are now being passed down by local adults to local children.
Another major feature of the Mizushima Hina Doll Tour is the many Hina dolls made by children at kindergartens and nursery schools. Teachers at every school put a lot of thought into creating original Hina dolls together with the children.
When the children’s creations are displayed, their families come to the Mizushima Hina Doll Tour. Some visitors come from outside the prefecture, including Shikoku, saying, “We came to see our grandchild’s Hina dolls.”
Mizushima isn’t a tourist destination, so we don’t get many travelers. But during this period, many children’s families come to visit, and the town becomes lively.
What are the highlights of the “22nd Mizushima Hina Doll Tour”?
Ozaki
This year, after a long break following the period of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Life Park Kurashiki will once again be one of the venues. In addition to displaying at least 12 sets of Hina dolls, Life Park Kurashiki is also planning to exhibit many creative Hina dolls, including hanging Hina dolls.
We’re also planning to display many Hina dolls that haven’t been shown for a long time, since displays in Mizushima Shopping Street ended. We hope you’ll come and see them.
Many children from certified early childhood education and care centers, nursery schools, and elementary schools in Mizushima will also take part in each of the ceremonial events.
In particular, the Hina Procession, in which children dress up as Hina dolls and parade along Tsura no Komichi, is something people throughout Tsurajima look forward to every year. It’s a very colorful event, and we hope many people will come to see it.
Finally, do you have a message for our readers?
Ozaki
The Mizushima Rinkai Railway will also be running a charming Hina train, so please ride it to come to the Mizushima Hina Doll Tour.
We look forward to welcoming you.
From the Writer
I often hear about organizations, including the school where I used to work, scaling back their events after the period of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
However, after that period, the 2025 Mizushima Hina Doll Tour is set to be the largest ever. This must be because local residents have cherished and protected the Mizushima Hina Doll Tour for many years.
Even if you usually visit Mizushima by car or bus, why not ride the Mizushima Rinkai Railway’s Hina train during the Mizushima Hina Doll Tour, explore the Hina dolls prepared through the combined efforts of the Mizushima community, and take part in the stamp rally?
22nd Mizushima Hina Doll Tour Information
| Name | 22nd Mizushima Hina Doll Tour |
|---|---|
| Dates | February 22 (Sat)–March 9 (Sun), 2025 |
| Location | 13 locations in Mizushima |
| Admission (tax included) | Free admission (Admission to the Shokoku Folk Museum is free with a flyer.) |
| Website | 22nd Kurashiki Hina Doll Tour |
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