Kodomo no Hi (子供の日; meaning "Children's Day") is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5, the fifth day of the fifth month, and is part of the Golden Week. It is a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness. It was designated a National holiday by the Japanese government in 1948.
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Tango no Sekku
The day was originally called Tango no Sekku (端午の節句), and was celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th moon in the lunar calendar or Chinese calendar (before Japan switched to the Gregorian calendar). It is still celebrated on May 5th every year, despite the offset of the lunar and Gregorian calendars. In modern day China, Tango is celebrated with the Dragon Boat Festival (端午節). Sekku means a season's festival (there are five sekku per year). Tango no Sekku marks the beginning of summer or the rainy season. Tango has a double meaning: Tan means "edge" or "first" and go means "noon." In Japanese go also means five (五), which could refer to the date of the festival: the fifth day of the fifth month. In Chinese culture, the fifth month of the Chinese calendar was said to be a month for purification, and many rites that were said to drive away evil spirits were performed.
Although it is not known precisely when this day started to be celebrated, it was probably during the reign of the Empress Suiko (593–628 A.D.). In Japan, Tango no Sekku was assigned to the fifth day of the fifth month after the Nara period. Until recently, Tango no Sekku was known as Boys' Day (also known as Feast of Banners) while Girls' Day (Hinamatsuri) was celebrated on March 3. In 1948, the government decreed this day to be a national holiday to celebrate the happiness of all children and to express gratitude toward mothers. It was renamed Kodomo no Hi. There is some disgruntlement that, despite its renaming, it is still Boys' Day and it is inappropriate that Boys' Day is a national holiday, while Girls' Day is not. Before this day, families raise the carp-shaped koinobori flags, one for each boy (or child), display a Kintarō doll usually riding on a large carp, and the traditional Japanese military helmet, kabuto. Kintarō and the kabuto are symbols of a strong and healthy boy. Kintarō (金太郎) is the childhood name of Sakata no Kintoki who was a hero in the Heian period, a subordinate samurai of Minamoto no Raikou, having been famous for his strength when he was a child. It is said that Kintarō rode a bear, instead of a horse, and played with animals in the mountains when he was a young boy. Mochi rice cakes wrapped in kashiwa (oak) leaves — kashiwa-mochi and chimaki — are traditionally served on this day.
Song of Kodomo no Hi
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- Sei Kurabe (Height Comparison)
- 柱のきずは おととしの 五月五日の 背くらべ
- Hashira no kizu wa ototoshi no gogatsu itsuka no Sei-Kurabe
- 粽たべたべ 兄さんが 計ってくれた 背のたけ
- Chimaki tabe-tabe nii-san ga hakatte kureta sei no take
- きのうくらべりゃ 何のこと やっと羽織の 紐のたけ
- Kinou kurabe-rya nan no koto, yatto haori no himo no take
- (Lyrics by Unnu Atsushi, Composed by Nakayama Shinpei)
- The scratch on the pillar was marked the 5th of May in the year before last for comparison of height
- Eating and eating chimaki, my elder brother measured the length of my height
- Comparing yesterday, however, the difference was barely a length of cord of my haori short coat
Books
- Children's picture book
- Girls' Day/Boys' Day Minako Ishii Bess Press Inc. 2007
See also
