Children’s Day 子供の日　こどものひ

A Day to Celebrate Children!

On Children’s Day, families raise the koinobori, which are carp-shaped windsock (carp because of the Chinese legend that a carp that swims upstream becomes a dragon and flies to Heaven, and the way the windsock blow in the wind looks like they are swimming), with a black carp for the father, a red or pink for the mother, and one carp (usually blue, and sometimes additionally green and orange) for each child. Traditionally, when celebrated as Boys’ Day, the red koinobori was for the eldest son with blue and additional colors for younger brothers. Families may also display a samurai doll, sometimes riding on a large carp (often representing the Japanese folk heroes Kintarō or Momotarō), and/or the traditional Japanese military helmet, kabuto, due to their tradition as symbols of strength and vitality.

[dopcap]K[/dropcap]ashiwa-mochi (sticky rice cakes filled with red bean jam and wrapped in oak leaves) and chimaki (sticky sweet rice wrapped in an iris or bamboo leaf) are traditionally served on this day.