Boy’s Festival, “Children’s Day”

In Japan, blessed with four seasons that nourish their growth, there are many “seasonal festivals.” These seasonal festivals are customs that were originally brought over from China during the Nara Era (645-794). Those center around the rice harvest and fit well with the rhythm of the Japanese people’s life style, so that the seasonal festivals have set down deep roots as part of the celebration of the season and continue to the present day. In the March issue we introduced the “Hina Matsuri” (Doll Festival) which is a festival held March 3, the “Hina Matsuri” for girls. In this connection, this time we would like to introduce the Boy’s Festival held May 5th.
In the present day, the “Children’s Day” is celebrated on May 5th. This is an old custom that has continued from the Nara Era. The May 5th festival is also called the “Tango Festival.” The meaning of the word “tango” is based on “tan” (“edge”) for the beginning of the month, and the day of “go” (“cow” by the Chinese astrological calendar) and was not restricted to the month of May. However, because the sounds of the words “go” (“cow”) and “go” (“five”) are the same, there was an indication for the 5th of the month and eventually the event was passed down as being held on May 5th.
In the Edo Era, when the Tango Festival approached, in the entryway to the living rooms of military families there would be things like nobori banners with the crest of the clan, with ancient umajirushi commander’s standards and fukinagashi military streamers hung to honor the martial exploits of their ancestors, while traditionally praying for the success in life of the scions of the families. Seeing that, the residents of the Edo towns got the idea that they would also like to celebrate themselves on a grand scale, but they could not imitate the military families. Therefore, they had to create their own unique decorations and what they came up with were the koi nobori carp banners. In Chinese legend, it was said that if a carp were to successfully surmount the Dragon Gate waterfall in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, it would be transformed into a dragon and ascend to heaven. In addition, the carp was always considered a dignified fish and from olden times it was proverbial that “a carp ascends waterfalls,” so the koi nobori display was imbued with the parents’ wishes to raise healthy children.
For that reason, it may be thought to be the most suitable fish for representing hopes for boys’ success in life. When seeing the carp swimming in the May sky, children are terribly happy, and the koi nobori that was born in Edo rapidly spread throughout the country. In this way, the Tango Festival made way for a phalanx of ascending carp in different places.
For the Japanese wagashi pastry served during the Tango Festival, in general there is kazari rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and kashiwa mochi. Eating kashiwa mochi is a uniquely Japanese custom, which carries the widespread lucky image of an oak tree that sprouts young buds while retaining old leaves, meaning that “the family line will not die out.” Kazari rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and kashiwa mochi may be purchased at the Japanese wagashi pastry shop, Mikawa-ya, in Little Tokyo and in the South Bay, so please try them and see what you think.