March 3rd was Girls' Day (or Doll Festival), called Hinamatsuri in Japanese. Families with daughters display beautiful dolls of the Emperor and Empress.
When a baby girl is born, her maternal grandparents give her parents a set of these dolls. They're REALLY expensive, easily $1000 for a basic set! Every year in the middle of February, her parents will display them, but always taking them down on March 3rd. If the parents miss this deadline, it's said that the daughter won't get married!
I went over to my friend Chiaki's house to see her display (she has an 18 year old daughter). It was very large, taking up as much space in her family room as the piano! 
On the top shelf sat the Emperor and Empress in front of a gold screen.
The second shelf had the Empress' three ladies in waiting. Then a shelf of five musicians with traditional Japanese instruments.
Next were some diamond shaped mochi (the ubiquitous rice cakes) and two advisors to the Emperor, one young and one old. The next shelf had three men cleaning, one was happy, one sad, and one angry. And the bottom shelf had displays of furniture and candy. What a beautiful tradition to celebrate daughters!
(PS. I have changed the format of the photos, so if you click on a photo, you should be able to zoom in on it)
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