The Hina Festival (also called the Doll Festival) falls every year on March third. It’s primarily a girls’ festival.

When I was shopping at a local grocery store (AEON), I snapped these photos of seasonal snacks for the Hina Festival. In the above photo is senbei (rice crackers.) I don’t think the rice crackers being sold here are any different than other rice crackers, really. It’s just that the packaging is cute and pink and Hina-y.

I was thrilled to find these Hina Tirolle chocolates! I’ve seen these on the internet, but only AEON seems to have these particular Hina ones in Fukushima City.  (Not the other grocery stores.)

I bought a package and set them up as a miniature (and very cute) doll decoration.

Various Hina snacks. I’ll tell the truth…I don’t buy these snacks. I am sure they taste fine, but I have a son, not a daughter. And YES I know boys can love pink….but my son doesn’t love pink. He knows these are for girls….and he won’t eat them. So if I buy them, they will go uneaten, unless I eat them….(and I don’t need the calories.)

The colors of Hina Festival (for snacks) are white, pink and light green. This is Hina Arare, a famous Hina Festival snack. It is a LOT like Super Sugar Puffs cereal (an American cereal) but without all the sugar and sweetness.

Arare is just slightly sweet. (Not sweet enough for most Americans, I think.)

You can see a man and a woman on the sign and on the snacks–that’s the emperor and empress. (Not necessarily the current ones. I’m speaking figuratively.) Their dolls are the symbol of the Hina Festival.