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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Picture of the Week Children’s Day in Japan

Children's Day or kodomo-no-hi is a Japanese National Holiday during Golden Week which takes place on the 5th of May. While it is a holiday for children in general, it is primarily for boys (girls have a day of their own on the 3rd of March called (Hina Matsuri).

Children’s Day is a Japanese boy’s festival and is a day to pray for the healthy growth of boys. It is Japanese tradition for families with boys to display carp streamers (koinobori) outside their houses around this holiday. Carp are believed to symbolize successes in children’s lives. Samurai dolls called gogatsu ningyo (May Dolls) are also put on display in homes.

In my home because we have a son we display kabuto (Japanese military helmet worn by samurai). Many people have these as a seasonal decoration displayed during Children’s Day. Kabuto is displayed to express hope that each boy in the family will grow up healthy and strong. We bought quite an expensive one but really like having it displayed during Children’s Day.

You can see a picture of my kabuto below


This is my entry for this weeks edition of Show Me Japan



Read more about Golden Week here

The Secrets Of Speaking Japanese Fluently
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8 comments:

  1. Muza-chanMay 5, 2011 at 4:05 PM

    I like very much the decorations for the Tango no sekku. I visited extensively the shops near Asakusabashi Station, where these decorations are sold, together with the Hina dolls...

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  2. Japan-AustraliaMay 5, 2011 at 4:19 PM

    Thanks Muza-chan, love the decorations as well. We spent a great deal of time at numerous stores until we found the kabuto we liked best.

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  3. linaMay 5, 2011 at 5:57 PM

    That is one cool looking kabuto.

    I wanted to buy one for souvenir esp since I have a son, but was terrified at the price. :p

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  4. LisaMay 5, 2011 at 10:05 PM

    My son would love one of those too!

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  5. Japan-AustraliaMay 6, 2011 at 10:09 AM

    Thanks Lina & Lisa, my boy loves wearing it on Boy's Day. It was pretty expensive but makes a good souvenir and display from Japan.

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  6. 2catsMay 7, 2011 at 4:42 PM

    My friends' son very proudly showed me his doll today. It looked really fierce. :-)

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  7. RiMay 16, 2011 at 5:44 PM

    I'm still catching up on posts, argh!
    But I always like how informative your posts are. ^^)b
    I totally want one of those too. ;)

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  8. Japan-AustraliaMay 16, 2011 at 9:43 PM

    Thanks Ri, I really appreciate it. They are really cool and we love showing it off.

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