Shichigosan

Mid-November marks a very special time for children all over Japan: Shichigosan (七五三)! Shichigosan, which means “Seven Five and Three” marks a kind of coming-of-age ceremony for children everywhere, when they dress up in kimono or haori jackets and go visit a Shinto shrine with their families. Lots of pictures, candy and so on.

As Wikipedia explains, the roots of Shichigosan probably originate with the Heian Court aristocrats, who wanted to protect their children from evil spirits that might take the lives of their children. I talked before about religion and ritual in the Heian Period when I mentioned Lady Murasaki’s Diary, and this is another example. But if this sounds archaic, remember in those days child mortality rates were much higher. A simple flu really could be lethal then, as there were no antibiotics, ibuprofen, or emergency medical services, especially for the commoner class. Malnutrition or unsanitary conditions were something most people had to live with throughout their lives, but it could really make the difference between your child’s life or death. So, if a child survived to three years old, that was a good cause for celebration.

Life was more fragile then, and it was no wonder that parents found solace in spiritual matters by getting blessings for their three year old children. On the one hand, parents would offer thanks to the Shinto kami for their protection so far, and pray that they continue to watch over their children in the future. As 5 is also an auspicious year for boys and 7 for girls, celebrations would continue on these years as well. By this age, children are stronger, healthier and can look forward to life ahead. The tradition extended to the ruling samurai families, and then all people in Japan over the centuries into the tradition you see today.

To reiterate, both girls and boys celebrate Shichigosan at age three, but at age five, only boys celebrate and at age seven, only girls celebrate.

Among the popular places families go now to celebrate Shichigosan is Hie Shrine, or hie jinja (日枝神社) located in Tokyo. The Hie Shrine is among the more important shrines in Japan due to its central role in Tokyo, cultural treasures, and accessibility, so if you want to see Shichigosan celebrated in style, that’s a great place to take your kids.

Regardless of which shrine children go to, they can look forward to some candy called chitose ame (千歳飴). This means “1000 year-old candy” and symbolizes auspicious and long life. In East Asian culture, cranes were though to live 1000 years and turtles lived 10,000 years, so on the chitosame candy, you see pictures of cranes and turtles on the wrappers.

My little girl is turning 3 years old at the end of the year, and we wanted to take her to Shichigosan at this time, but as we just returned from Ireland and are buying a new house, we decided it would be best to wait until early next year. This is not typical of Shichigosan celebrations, but places like Hie Shrine are open all year to the public, so there’s no reason why we can’t celebrate a few months later, when the weather is pleasant.

Once we visit ourselves, I’ll be sure to post some pictures online for you to enjoy. If you do have kids in Japan, or even at home, take a moment to reflect on how much they’ve grown, and how lucky we are as a society to have good healthcare. There are still many societies in the world, where children are lucky if they can reach age 3, just like the medieval days.


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2 Comments on “Shichigosan”

  1. johnl says:

    omedetou gozaimasu! Looking forward to pix of your little one. Will she be wearing wafuku or yofuku? You seem to be saying indirectly that you will be visiting Japan.

    By the way, is there any place to do shichi go san locally? I know there are lots of Buddhist temples in the US, but I’ve never heard of a shrine there. Of course, shichi go san is possible at temples too–Sensoji in Asakusa is prepared to welcome the kids and families. Perhaps the temples that are oriented to overseas Japanese might do it, more than the ‘temples for gaijin.’ Anyway, it’s a great milestone! congratulations!

    Regards,
    JL

  2. Doug says:

    Thanks very much. If I know my wife’s family right, she will wear wafuku. :-)

    Ad for shrines in the US, there is a branch shrine for Tsubaki Grand Shrine not far from Seattle. My wife and visited there a long time ago for 初もで. No clue I’d they can do shichogosan services buy even if they did I think my wife still would prefer to go back and celebrate with family. :-)


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