Girl's Festival (hina-matsuri), held on March 3rd, is the day parents celebrate their daughters' health, growth and good fortune. Japanese dolls called hina dolls including a prince, princess, court musicians and servants are dressed in kimonos befitting their station and displayed on a tiered shelf in the home and in many businesses. Some traditional foods that are enjoyed on this day include sweet rice crackers (osenbei), sake, a colorful sushi casserole called gomoku-sushi/chirashi-zushi) and a clear clam soup.

Children's Day (kodomo-no-hi), celebrated on May 5th, is a national holiday. Originally this day was reserved for boys however today it is celebrated by families with children of both genders. The traditional decoration for this holiday is a warrior doll adorned with a helmet, a sword and bows and arrows. This symbolized the parent's wish for their son to be brave, strong and successful in the future. Another popular decoration is the hanging of colorful carp shaped kites (koi-nobori) from a high pole. Typical food enjoyed on this day includes rice cakes filled with sweet red beans wrapped with kashiwa leaves and steamed sticky rice (mochi-gohan) wrapped in bamboo leaves.

Shichi-go-san (seven-five-three), held on November 15th, is when girls who are seven years old, boys who are five and girls who are three receive a special blessing at the shrine (shinto shrine), give thanks and pray for continued health and growth in the future. The children dress up in traditional kimonos and keepsake photos are taken. Each of them is given a bag filled with three long candy sticks called chitose-ame. It is one of the few times a year when children today dress up in kimono.