{"id":72327,"date":"2020-02-27T11:39:20","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T02:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=feature&p=70671"},"modified":"2020-03-02T10:59:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T01:59:29","slug":"yanagawa-hina-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/yanagawa-hina-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Yanagawa Hina Festival 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year on Mar. 3, Hina (Doll) Festivals are held to pray for the health of young girls. The day is known as Momo no Sekku, a date that traditionally marked the coming of spring. The custom is said to have begun in the Heian period (794-1185) when people would try to drive away evil spirits by transferring them to dolls. Although the custom varies throughout Japan, families with young girls still display dolls today. Dolls were set up in early February on risshun<\/em> (\u201conset of spring\u201d) in the old calendar, and people celebrate by eating three mochi<\/em> rice cakes in different colors: green, pink and white. In Yanagawa, the first Hina Festival for a baby girl is marked with sagemon<\/em>, colorful hanging decorations that each family has passed down over generations.<\/p>\n

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\"\"Image from 2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Ohina-sama Water Parade<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

During the Ohina-sama Water Parade, young girls dressed in kimono<\/em> ride down canals in boats decorated with hina<\/em> dolls. About 200 brightly dressed girls and their mothers glide along downtown Yanagawa\u2019s canals, which are also decked out with sagemon<\/em>, in nearly a dozen riverboats. The boats float at a leisurely pace, making the parade a popular destination for shutterbugs looking to snap some pictures from the banks.<\/p>\n

\u2022 3\/15 (Sun.) 11:00~12:20 *in case of rain: 3\/22 (Sun.)
\nCANCELLED<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis event has been cancelled for reasons related to the outbreak of COVID-19<\/em><\/p>\n

Sagemon Viewing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In Yanagawa, a girl\u2019s first Hina Festival is an important occasion. Sagemon are hung next to the doll stand, and a big celebration is held to pray for the child\u2019s health. The tradition began at the end of the Edo period (1603-1868), when people who had baby girls began making decorations from cloth scraps and hanging them on either side of the doll stand. In Yanagawa, each sagemon<\/em> has 49 (7×7) decorations (seven is a lucky number), which are often in the shape of auspicious creatures, such as rabbits and cranes. Nowadays, when spring draws near, everyone in town hangs the colorful sagemon<\/em> in their homes and shops, making for a sight to behold. See the largest sagemon<\/em> display inside Yokamon-kan, a shop on Kyomachi Dori that offers many specialties of Yanagawa.<\/p>\n

\u2022 2\/11 (Tue., Hol.) ~ 4\/3 (Fri.)
\n\u2022 Viewing spots have pink flags outside
\n\u2022 Giant Sagemon: Yanagawa Yokamon-kan (9:00~18:00, 13-1 Kyomachi, Yanagawa City<\/a>)
\n\u2022 Sagemon sightseeing map <\/a>
\n\u2022 Sagemon Viewing<\/a><\/p>\n

Kimono Day – a Great Chance for Photos!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mar. 7 and 8 is Yanagawa Kimono Day\u2014when almost everyone in town dons a kimono! Visitors who arrive in town wearing a kimono can enjoy several perks.
\nCANCELLED<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis event has been cancelled for reasons related to the outbreak of COVID-19<\/em><\/p>\n

Yanagawa Canal Boat Punting<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Local oarsmen use a single-pole to gently glide the punts along a four and a half kilometer course of canals. During this season, you can enjoy ohanami<\/em> (cherry blossom viewing) while cruising down the canal.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Open every day
\n\u2022 9:00~16:30
\n\u2022 Adult: \u00a51,600, 5 y.o. ~ ES: \u00a5820
\n\u2022 Four boat launches within a 10-min. walk from Nishitetsu Yanagawa Sta.<\/a>
\n\u2022 0944-74-0891<\/a> (Yanagawa City Tourist Information Center)<\/p>\n

Rental Bicycle<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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For just \u00a5500 per day, you can rent a bicycle from three locations to conveniently see all the sites in Yanagawa, including the punting rivers, Kyomachi shopping area, Okinnohata, where the canal ends or continue further to see the banks of the Ariake Sea.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Open every day
\n\u2022 9:00~18:00
\n\u2022 \u00a5500 \/ day
\n\u2022 Nishitetus Yanagawa Sta.<\/a> (0944-72-2503<\/a>), Yanagawa Parking Ohana (0944-72-3040<\/a>), Yanagawa City Tourist Information Center (0944-74-0891)<\/p>\n

Access <\/strong>
\n\"\"
\n\u2022 Fukuoka Airport – (Subway 10 min.) – Tenjin Sta. (Walk 5 min.) – Nishitetsu Fukuoka Tenjin Sta. – (Nishitetsu Omuta line 50 min.) – Nishitetsu Yanagawa Sta.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Hakata Sta. – (Subway 5 min.) – Tenjin Sta. (Walk 5 min.) – Nishitetsu Fukuoka Tenjin Sta. – (Nishitetsu Omuta Line 50 min.) – Nishitetsu Yanagawa Sta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year on Mar. 3, the Hina (Doll) Festival is held to pray for the health of young girls. (It is also known as Momo no Sekku, an auspicious date that traditionally marks the coming of spring.) The custom is said to have begun in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"70671","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4914],"tags":[5112],"class_list":["post-72327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-others","tag-festival","location-yanagawa","en-US"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/2019-yanagwa-sagemon.jpg?fit=1400%2C976&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72327"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130319,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72327\/revisions\/130319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}