GARDENA — On March 3, 71 girls from kindergarten to fifth grade attended a Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Day) event held at the Gardena Buddhist Church.
The purpose of the event was to educate the attendees about Japanese cultural traditions and promote gender pride. The event began with Gardena Buddhist Church’s Rev. Sala Sekiya addressing the girls.
The girls rotated through six stations – making kimono paper dolls, soup container taiko drums, tissue-paper flower blossoms, flower ribbon headbands, coloring Hinamatsuri drawings, and racing water bottle boats inspired by the Nagashi-bina tradition. A team of older girls supervised the activities and taught the little ones more about the holiday.
Kathleen Shiroma, a Girl Scout ambassador working on her Gold Award, was the event’s organizer. The young girls left the Hinamatsuri event with a collection of paper dolls, drums, drawings, and flower ribbon headbands. The girls also left with fond memories of a fun-filled day with friends.