For girls day, aka the dolls festival, the former Murayama Kaisaido in Shiki City have a 1000 hanging hina doll decorations on display. Then for Children’s day, also known as boys day or Tango no Sekku they have 800 ‘tango’ hanging decorations. In addition, for the girls day event they also have traditional shishimai lion dance performances six times during the period of the event. For both the girls day event in February / March and the boys day event in April / May there are also workshops that teach how to make the beautiful decorations.
Boys Day / Tango no Sekku hanging decorations
The Tango no Sekku hanging decorations will be on display from Wednesday April 12th until Monday May 8th. The display is in the former Murayama Kaisaido, which is a designated cultural property of Shiki City. It is located in the Iroha Shinsui Park. The Iroha Shinsui Park has been undergoing renovations for the last couple of years. For example, they put in a new water play area that was finalized last summer. There is also a new cafe in the park.
Information
Event: Hanging ‘tango’ doll decorations 端午のつるし飾り
Dates: from Wednesday April 12th to Monday May 8th.
Time: from 10 am to 4 pm from Wednesday to Monday, closed on Tuesdays.
Cost: free
Venue: the former Murayama Kaisaido 旧村山快哉堂, 5 Chome-1 Nakamuneoka, Shiki, Saitama 353-0002. View on Google Maps.
Access
There is a parking lot by the Former Murayama Storehouse. There is also another two parking lots for Iroha Shinsui Park, one of which is very small though. In addition, there is a rental bikes by the storehouse and it is very close to a bus stop. A bus bound for the city hall goes from Shiki Station. Any bus bound for Shiki City Hall will go close to the park. You can easily walk from city hall to the park / former Murayama Kaisaido.
February / March Event
1000 Hanging Hina Dolls
Hanging hina dolls sounds so wrong! But it is the term used for the displays of small hina dolls threaded together and hanging from the ceiling. The hanging decorations will be on display from Thursday January 26th to Sunday March 5th 2023.
Shishimai Lion Dance
During the period that the hanging decorations are on display, there will be shishimai performances on six dates, listed below. The performances are held twice each day, at 1.30 and 2.30 pm. This is a free event.
- Saturday February 11th (Public holiday)
- Sunday February 12th
- Sunday February 19th
- Thursday February 23rd (Public holiday)
- Sunday February 26th
- Sunday March 5th