China

In China since ancient times, there has been a day to pray for children’s health and growth. This idea was passed on to Japan and is connected to today’s Children’s Day on May 5. In China, it’s on June 1. The feeling of celebrating children’s healthy growth and sharing joy with the whole family has been cherished as important both in the past and today.

children

The red carp streamer (higoi) is a type of koinobori that began to be made in the Meiji era. In the lyrics of a children’s song, it says, “The small red carp are the children.” In other words, in the past it was “the black carp = the father, the red carp = the children,” and there was no mother carp streamer. The red carp becoming the mother is, in the long span of history, a relatively recent development.

boy

Tango no Sekku on May 5 was originally a celebration to wish for boys to grow up healthy and strong. In the hope that they will grow strong, people display helmets and May dolls and raise carp streamers. The wish is that children will grow up energetic and robust, just like the carp streamers that swim vigorously in the sky.

Because I want you to grow big and healthy

Carp are fish that never give up and swim powerfully even in fast-flowing rivers. From that image comes the wish: “May you grow into a resilient child who won’t be defeated by anything.” Carp streamers, swimming cheerfully in the sky on the wind, seem to be cheering on children’s futures. The carp streamers are filled with the family’s hope: “Grow up healthy and strong.”

carp streamer

Koinobori are large streamers shaped like carp, and they look as if they’re swimming energetically in the sky on the wind. Because carp are known to swim powerfully even in fast-flowing rivers, they embody the wish for children to grow up strong and resilient. Families display them in front of their homes or on balconies to celebrate children’s healthy growth.

chimaki (a Japanese sticky rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves; in Chinese contexts, often called zongzi)

Chimaki is a traditional confection made by wrapping red bean paste or glutinous rice in bamboo leaves and steaming it. Wrapping it in bamboo leaves has long carried the wish to ward off evil and help children grow up healthy. Eating chimaki with the family on Children’s Day is an important custom to celebrate children’s growth and to pray for everyone’s happiness.

kashiwa mochi (rice cake wrapped in oak leaf)

Kashiwa-mochi is a food made by putting sweet red bean paste inside mochi and wrapping it with oak leaves. Because oak trees do not shed their old leaves until new ones grow, it carries the wish that “the family will continue without end.” For this reason, people eat kashiwa-mochi on Children’s Day, wishing for children to grow up healthy and for the whole family to live happily.