A firm believer that all holidays should be celebrated, when possible, I probably would have found a way to celebrate “Girl’s Day” even if I didn’t have a daughter with some Japanese ancestry. Be that as it may, given the long history of boys in my husband’s family, all we had passed down were the Boy’s Day (excuse me, “Children’s Day”) accouterments. Still, everyone needs a day, and here are some ways to celebrate with the girls in your life:

• Head to Uwajimaya to check out their full display of traditional dolls — but make sure you do it by the end of the 3rd! Tradition holds that it’s bad luck to leave the dolls out past the third for the month. While you’re there, you can pick up some sakura mochi or other Girl’s Day treats (we avoided the traditional sweet sake and picked up some peach-flavored Calpico instead. Yes, my daughter has been eating nothing but sugar today. It’s what holidays are for.)
• Learn the basic tune to the Hinamatsuri song here, then enjoy the full lyrics (and references to dolls that have been drinking too much) here
• Print and fold your own Emperor and Empress dolls Afterwords, burn them. No, really. Making and then burning the little effigies is supposed to be cleansing. The other option is to float them downstream, so I suppose you could try them as bath toys as well…

Hope your Hinamatsuri is a wonderful one!