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Seto’s Hina Dolls

HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Seto’s Hina Dolls

This ancient pottery town in Aichi Prefecture is full of hina dolls

Seto MARUTTO Museum Tourism Association

Seto in Aichi Prefecture is a pottery town with more than 1,000 years of history. Home to two of Japan’s six ancient kilns, the city is also the largest producer of glass materials in Japan.

Seto artisans produce a diverse range of pottery and ceramics, and the town has numerous ceramic and glass studios making traditional hina dolls of the kind seen across Japan each March during the annual Doll Festival, or Hina Matsuri, which celebrates girls’ health and happiness.

The creativity of Seto’s ceramics artisans is on display during the city’s annual “Hina Doll Tour,” the Seto Hina Meguri. The event’s main venue is the Seto-Gura Museum, which houses a millennium of pottery, stoneware, and ceramics history. Here, approximately 1,000 hina dolls are displayed on an enormous tiered platform carpeted in red. The hinadan, as it is known, is four meters high and has eleven steps, resembling a pyramid. Seto locals have nicknamed it the “hinamid.” At the top of the “hinamid” sit dolls of the Emperor and Empress in Heian-period (794–1185) costume.

The tour extends throughout Seto City, with hina dolls almost everywhere you look, from community centers to local shops. There are ceramics workshops for those who’d like to make their own hina doll souvenir. Also look out for the special lunches and sweets available for a limited time at around 30 stores in the city.

Seto Hina Meguri takes place annually from late January to early March.

How to get there

From Nagoya Station, take the JR Chuo Main Line to Ozone Station (about 15 minutes). From Ozone Station, take the Nagoya Meitetsu Seto Line to Owari Seto Station (about 30 minutes). The venue for the festival is a 5-minute walk from the station.
The station is also 40 minutes by car from Nagoya.

Seto-shi, Aichi-ken