Children s day

In Japan, May 5 is called "kodomo no hi": children's day (子供の日 : 子供= kodomo = children; の日 = no hi = day). On this day, famillies pray for their children's happiness and good health.

In the past, May 5 was called "tango no sekku" (端 = tan = first, 午 = go= horse, 節句 = seasonal festival ). It concerned the celebration of the first day of the horse month. During this celebration, people hung long tree leaves at their doorstep to protect their house against natural disasters. Villagers also participated to war games such as archery contests or horse races. It was an occasion for men to display their courage and viriliry.

After the Kamakura period (1192-1333), those games became obsolete but samurai families came to celebrate chevalrous spirit and, in a larger way, little boys who received a piece of armour as a symbol of their future courage on the battlefield.

It's only in 1948 that "tango no sekku" was changed into children's day. However, since little girls already have their own celebration day on March 3 (called Hina Matsuri), May 5 is mainly a day when people pray for boys to become tall, strong, brave and determined.

From the beginning of April, families who have a little boy hang carp-shaped flags on a post. Those flags are called koinobori (鯉のぼり. 鯉 = carp, のぼり = nobori = flag). An old tale tells the story of a brave carp who decided to swim up a river and reached the spring after having faced many difficulties. Gods who admired its courage transformed it in a dragon who flied the sky away. That's why today, carp represent courage and perseverance. You can see that koinobori have different colors : the black one represents the father; blue and red ones embody the children whereas the multicolored ribbons symbolise the river's tumult.

Little boys usually receive a very expensive miniature samurai helmet or a small armour which are displaye inside a special place in the house.

On this day, people also eat special pastries called kashiwa-mochi. They are mochi (rice flour cakes) filled with red beans or white miso (fermented soybean paste) and wrapped in an oak leaf. The leaf gives a fresh smell to the mochi which, i have to say, are quite insipid.