Mochigase no Nagashibina (Mochigase Floating Hina Dolls)
Mochigase no Nagashibina (Mochigase Floating Hina Dolls)
Mochigase Nagashibina refers both to the paper hina dolls handed down in Mochigase Town, Tottori City, and to the event of floating them down a river. On the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, children in their best clothes place a male-and-female pair of paper hina dolls on a sandawara (round straw lid) woven from straw, add small peach branches, rapeseed blossoms and the like, and float them down the Sendai River. It is a custom of transferring the year's misfortunes to the dolls and praying for good health. The event was designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Tottori Prefecture in 1985, and in 2021 it was selected by the national government as an Intangible Folk Cultural Property Requiring Measures such as Documentation. The dolls for floating are made by hand over about half a year, starting in autumn after the rice harvest, by the local group ときわ流しびなの会. The list of local crafts and related items designated by the Governor of Tottori Prefecture also includes 'nagashibina, kirin-jishi' as folk toys. At 流しびなの館 in the town, visitors can try making paper hina dolls and sandawara.
Origin
Nagashibina are thought to have arisen when hitogata-nagashi, a practice continuing since the Heian period, combined with the Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival) of the Edo period. They are rooted in the belief of transferring bodily impurities and misfortunes to human-shaped figures (hitogata) and sending them off at the water's edge. Few records remain of when the custom began in Mochigase, so this is uncertain, and some sources say it spread among ordinary people from the Muromachi period. It was once widely practiced throughout the Inaba region, but today it survives only in Mochigase.
History
In the late Edo period, nagashibina became popular in the castle town of Tottori, and peddlers are said to have spread them by selling them in farming villages along the Sendai River basin. In Mochigase, elders tell of how, around Meiji 10 (1877), a traveling actor named 海老十郎 made the dolls and a woman known as お菊さん went around selling them. The custom became known nationwide after being featured in a weekly magazine in 1960, and in 1963 the local senior citizens' club 常磐会 began making the dolls. This was the forerunner of today's ときわ流しびなの会.
Features
Nagashibina are simple dolls that combine a small male-and-female pair of paper hina dolls with a round sandawara woven from straw. It is common for households to display them at the entrance or on the household Shinto altar (kamidana) for a year and float them down the river at the following year's Hinamatsuri. It is also said that a sick person recovers sooner by stroking their body with the dolls and floating them away, so they were tools for prayer in daily life. In Tottori Prefecture in the past, there are also records of dolls made of red colored paper stretched over bamboo frames being floated.
Techniques
Making paper hina dolls
A male-and-female pair of hina dolls is made from paper. In the hands-on workshop at 流しびなの館, participants do 'kaogaki' (drawing the dolls' faces) and 'kisetsuke' (dressing the dolls in paper clothing), and add a paper charm on which a wish is written. At ときわ流しびなの会, members finish the dolls by hand, one at a time.
Making sandawara
A sandawara is a round lid woven from straw that is fitted to both ends of a rice bale. In nagashibina it serves as the base on which the dolls are placed, and it is regarded as a lucky charm for good health. Since 1980, ときわ流しびなの会 has taught sandawara-making at the local 用瀬小学校 (Mochigase Elementary School).
Materials Used
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Artisans & Workshops
ときわ流しびなの会
A group that continues to make nagashibina in Mochigase Town. Its forerunner was the doll-making begun in 1963 by 常磐会, the senior citizens' club of Mochigase District 2, and its chairperson is 長谷川正敏. As of 2026 it has seven members with an average age of over 80, who spend about half a year finishing the dolls by hand, from around October after the rice harvest until the day of the event.
How to Buy
- 用瀬町観光物産センター（流しびなの館売店）
- A shop at 別府33-3, Mochigase Town, Tottori City. It handles various sandawara for nagashibina and related goods, and also accepts telephone orders and home delivery. Open from 9:00 to 17:00, closed on Wednesdays (open on national holidays).Where to buy →PR
- Venue of the Mochigase Nagashibina event
- On the day of the event, held on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, you can buy nagashibina at the venue for about 1,000 yen and float them on the Sendai River on the spot. In 2027 it is scheduled to be held on April 9 around 流しびなの館.Where to buy →PR
Hands-on Experiences
流しびなの館（流しびなづくり体験）
鳥取県鳥取市用瀬町別府32-1
Members of ときわ流しびなの会 teach the workshop in ふれあいホール inside the facility. The 60-minute paper hina doll course costs about 1,430 yen, and the 90-minute course that adds sandawara-making costs about 1,630 yen (for groups of 3 to 14 people). Reservations are required, and a face-drawing-only experience can also be arranged on request.
View details →FAQ
Q. When is the nagashibina event held?
A. It is held every year on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar. In 2027 it is scheduled for Friday, April 9. On the day there is a Shinto prayer ritual and the floating of dolls by dressed-up young children, and time is also set aside for the general public to float nagashibina.
Q. Can I try making dolls on the day of the event?
A. At the 2026 event, a nagashibina-making workshop was held at the community hall of Mochigase Town District 2 (用瀬町2区公民館). The fee was 500 yen, and it was limited to the first 40 people. Since the content changes from year to year, it is best to check with 用瀬流しびな実行委員会 (the organizing committee, 0858-87-3222).
Q. What can be seen at 流しびなの館?
A. It is a large wooden building modeled on Kyoto's Kinkaku (Rokuon-ji), and it permanently displays about 1,000 dolls, including hina dolls from the Edo period, Kamo dolls and gosho dolls. Admission is 300 yen for high school students and older, and it is open from 9:00 to 17:00, closed on Wednesdays.