Synopsis

In Yamaguchi Prefecture, the Hofu Tenmangu Shrine hosts an annual "Doll Thanksgiving Festival." It is a time for offering and release, as people bring dolls and stuffed animals to the shrine grounds. A father might arrive with his daughter's dolls after she has moved from her childhood home, or an elderly man might present his grandson’s May dolls, carefully displayed for three decades. Some offer farewells to dolls lovingly crafted as a rite of passage toward marriage. Each doll holds a reposit