Doll festival — 雛祭

A second print depicting Hinamatsuri, the Doll Festival celebrated on the third day of the third month, showing a young girl or elegant woman with the ceremonial hina doll display. The tiered lacquered shelves bearing the imperial court dolls (dairi-bina and associated figures) were among the most visually elaborate subjects in Meiji domestic genre prints. Gekko's variant composition likely differs from the companion sheet in its figure placement, costume, or relationship to the doll arrangement. Red and white dominate the palette — the crimson hina shelf cloth (moushisen), white washi ground, and the pale complexion of the female figure — with gold details on the dolls' robes achieved through metallic overprinting. The subject connects feminine refinement with seasonal ritual, a pairing central to bijin-ga traditions that Gekko adapted throughout his career for commercial and exhibition markets.