There has been a blizzard going on for the past two days. Lots of white, and not too much snow. I just wonder when the snow is going to melt all the way. I believe it wasn't until June last year that it was all completely gone except for in the mountain tops.

Yesterday was the Hinamatsuri, or "girl's festival." It was called "Momo no sekku" beforehand in the Heian period when Onmyodo and Shintoism were more popular. Today it is represented by eating diamond shaped mochi, sweetened puffed rice, and setting up a doll display reminiscent of the ancient Heian court setup.  This display below contains hina dolls (雛人形）.



Here is the diamond shaped mochi(菱餅) and some hina-arare(ヒナあられ）. The traditional colors of this even are Green, which represents young grass; pink, which represents the peach blossom petals; and white, which represents the snow. The is also probably some Heian tricolor combination with a certain special name, but i am unable to find it.
Hina arare

Hishimochi