Japanese festivals
safety of children. People have stopped doing this now because of fishermen catching the
dolls in their nets. They now send them out to sea, and when the spectators are gone they take
the boats out of the water and bring them back to the temple and burn them.
The customary drink for the festival is shirozake, a sake made from fermented rice. A colored
hina-arare, bite-sized crackers flavored with sugar or soy sauce depending on the region, and
hishimochi, a diamond-shaped colored rice cake, are served.[3] Chirashizushi (sushi rice
flavored with sugar, vinegar, topped with raw fish and a variety of ingredients) is often eaten.
A salt-based soup called ushiojiru containing clams still in the shell is also served. Clam shells
in food are deemed the symbol of a united and peaceful couple, because a pair of clam shells
fits perfectly, and no pair but the original pair can do so.
annaabi.ee 
