Hina matsuri (Dolls festival, 雛祭り) and puppetry（人形浄瑠璃/Ningyou Jyou-ru-ri, aka Bunraku) in Makabe, Japan.

Hina matsuri is a traditional Japanese festival where dolls are displayed on a stepped platform, usually in the home.

In a couple of places, like Makabe (pictured), many of the shops also display sets of dolls. In rare cases these dolls may date back to the Meiji period (c1868). Its the towns annual festival, and often held in conjunction with traditional puppetry (Ningyou Jyou-ru-ri/Bunraku) or Noh theatre.