DATE:		March 3, 2007
PLACE:		Kamo-Mioya Shrine (Shimogamo Shrine) 59 Shimogamo Izumigawa-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto
DIRECTION:		City Bus #4 or #205 to Shimogamo-jinja-mae or Tadasunomori
TEL:		81-75-781-0010
ADMISSION:		Free (except for certain areas of the shrine)
TEXT:		Today, Hina Matsuri, or Hina Doll Festival, is celebrated by displaying hina dolls on a tiered stage.  However, the festival was originally a ritual held to expel one’s sins by giving them over to dolls, which were then released in the ocean and on rivers.  The Nagashi-bina, or “floating dolls,” is a festival at Shimogamo Shrine that retains the essence of the old ritual.  It is held to pray for the good health of our children.  Shimogamo Shrine is known for the beautiful contrast of its vermillion-colored two-story gate built on white sand.  Many visitors come to enjoy the plum blossoms in the shrine's grounds that bloom just in time for the Nagashi-bina Festival.   Visitors place hina dolls made of Japanese paper on sanda-wara, small round boats woven from straw, and release them into Mitarashi River, which runs alongside the shrine’s stage.  Gods that purify the sins and guilt of people reside in the Inoue Shrine by Mitarashi pond at which Mitarashi River begins, and thus protect the Shimogamo Shrine.   Many worshippers come to the famous Nagashi-bina Festival to pray for good health and drink sweet sake known as amazake.