Happy Children’s Day 2012!

Happy Children's Day 2012

Hi folks! May 5th in Japan is a well-known holiday called kodomo no hi (こどもの日) or Children’s Day. Originally, it was Boy’s Day (to match Girl’s Day in March) but has expanded to include all children. However, a lot of traditions for Children’s Day still focus on boys.

For example, it’s popular to have displays of samurai armor, or to make paper kabuto (兜) which are the war-helmets used by samurai. Kids often make these in school using newspaper or just construction paper. My daughter made this picture above for May showing a kid with a paper kabuto. Since we have a daughter, we don’t have or display an armor set (we have a doll-set instead for Girl’s Day), but my daughter’s little friend is a boy so his parents do have one.

Also popular for Children’s Day are koinobori (鯉のぼり) which are streamers that look like carp (koi). They “ride” the wind, hence the “nobori”. In my daughter’s picture above, you can see the koinobori on the left-hand side. Often they come in groups, big and small.

And like Girl’s Day, Children’s Day is often a good time to take your little “heroes” out for dinner or have a special dinner at home with friends. :)

To all the children in Japan and everywhere, happy Children’s Day!

P.S. I was recently surprised to find out that Childrens’ Day is also a holiday in South Korea.

About Doug 陀愚

A Buddhist, Father and Japanophile / Koreaphile.
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