The Children’s Day / Alma Fatagani-Sato

This is also known as Boys’ Day and Feast of Banners. This holiday is usually celebrated on May 5th.

In 1948, the name was changed to Children’s Day and designated a national holiday by the Japanese government to include both male and female children, celebrated to respect their personalities and happiness. This is also to recognize the family unity.

During the Edo Era, it’s one of the official festivals recognized by the Tokugawa Shogunate. It’s a counterpart for the Girls’ Day also known as Dolls’ Festival (Hinamatsuri ひな祭). It was originally called Boys’ Day (Tango no sekku端午の節句), celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon in the lunisolar calendar (Chinese calendar). The date was fixed to May 5th after Japan switched to using the Gregorian calendar.

Special decorations are displayed to celebrate the healthy growth of boys. Inside the house, families with male child usually display either a replica of Japanese military helmet called kabuto, which symbolizes strength and vitality or samurai dolls, often representing the Japanese folk heroes Kintaro or Momotaro.

Outside the house, carp streamers (koinobori) can be seen uttering in the breeze. The carp is believed to be a lucky sh which symbolizes success in life. This practice is related to the Chinese legend that the carp which swims upstream becomes a dragon, and flies to heaven, so the carp streamers are place in a pole to look like they are swimming. In the olden times, the red carp streamer was for the eldest son, the blue and other colors for the younger brothers. Nowadays, the carp color represents the members of the family, black for the father, either red or pink for the mother, usually blue, green and orange for each child.

There are also special treats that you can enjoy on this day like the Chimaki (rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves) and Kashiwamochi (rice cakes wrapped in an oak leaf with sweet azuki red beans inside).

There is also the custom called Shobu-yu which is practiced to signify a desire for strength in contests. Japanese irises (菖 蒲shobu, which have the same pronunciation for the word contest 勝負) are put in the bath water.

Most parents would really try to make this day very special for their children. I suppose everyone would agree with the lyrics of an old song that goes ‘I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.’

Alma Fatagani-Sato

Jeepney Press