Photo= More than 300 dolls are displayed on a ten-tiered "Hina-dan" platform (Toko-in Temple, Kaminobe-cho, Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture)

An exhibition titled "Minna no Hina Matsuri in Ayabe," or Doll Festival for everyone in Ayabe, is being held at Toko-in Temple in Kaminobe-cho, Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture. A huge ten-tiered "Hina-dan" platform, on which more than 300 dolls are arranged, welcomes visitors.

More families are not displaying Hina dolls at home due to changes in people's living environments. The temple is holding the exhibition for the first time so young mothers and children can experience the ambience of Hina Matsuri.

Matsui Shinkai, the temple's chief priest, has collected approximately 400 dolls in total since last year. Some of them were contributed by "Danka," or parishioners of the temple. The main, large-sized Hina-dan platform with ten tiers, measuring 3.6 meters in width and 2.5 meters in height, was built by the temple staff. Female Danka arranged the dolls which took a whole day.

In addition to the tiered-display, "Goten Bina," or Hina dolls arranged in places modeled after the Shishin-den building in the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and Hina dolls from the Meiji Period are on display.

The exhibition is open from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and continues until April 3. It is closed on March 15. The admission fee is 300 yen for high school students or above.