Nagashibina (Floating Dolls)

About this event

This is a springtime tradition in Gojo City held every year on the first Sunday of April. Girls dressed in fine clothes read aloud their wishes and offer prayers by setting handmade paper Hina dolls afloat down the river. The small Hina dolls riding on bamboo-bark boats travel down the Yoshino River into the Kino River, with Kishu Awashima Shrine as their final destination. The Yoshino River, which has held special significance for the people of Yamato since ancient times, has been strongly admired as a river of purification and ablution. The Nagashibina of Minamiada is not only a prayer for girls' recovery from illness, but also an ablution ritual entrusted to Hina dolls.

Venue

Kisshozan Genryu-ji Temple

80 Minamiadacho, Gojo, Nara 637-0023