Hinamatsuri, the "Doll's Festival," is associated with girls, while Tango no sekku, "Children's Day," is more associated with boys. But did you know that both of these celebrations are derived from Chinese numerology? Getting an even number by adding the same odd number of the day and month (thus 3/3 and 5/5) was considered bad luck, so what better way to ward off misfortune than with a festival!
And as is usual with traditional festivals and celebrations, they originally had an agricultural origin. In this case, it's a celebration of the peach tree, whose flowers bloom at the beginning of March and are believed to ward off evil and promote longevity. In the Kojiki, compiled in 712, peach fruits are already described as capable of « sending the gods of thunder back to the realm of the dead », and the famous folk hero Momotarô, named after the peach (桃 momo) in which he was found, becomes the emissary charged with eliminating demons.
As for longevity, it involves a play on words, as momo is one of the readings of the character for 100 (百), notably in the reading momotose of the compound 百歳 ("100 years"). For all these reasons, peach flowers are found on the Hinamatsuri doll altar, a custom introduced to Japan between the 8th and 12th centuries first among the children of the nobility, then popularized during the Edo period (17th-19th century) with the development of commerce and urban lifestyles.
Today, Hinamatsuri is certainly an occasion to decorate an expensive doll altar, but also to instill good manners in young girls, who wear a kimono and visit relatives to enjoy a festive but codified meal, since the primary aim is still to avert misfortune and optimize good fortune!