Kiyou wa…Kodomo no Hi (Kids’ Day)

We’re just about finished with Golden Week over here: Saturday was Constitution Memorial Day, Sunday was Green Day and Monday waclass=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-43″s Children’s Day. Because Green Day fell on a Sunday this year (which every already has off), Tuesday is a Substitute Holiday. Children’s Day used to be called Boy’s Festival and is often still referred to this way as a counterpart to Hina Matsuri (which isn’t a national holiday, btw), often called “Girls’ Festival” even though this isn’t the correct translation. These two holidays (along with Tanabata in July) are very old and traditional and always fall on the same dates 3/3, 5/5 and 7/7. This day is supposed to celebrate children’s happiness.

 

Kiyou wa…O-Higan!

Kiyou wa… O-Higan– or at least the Spring O-Higan. My Japanese English teachers’ calendar gives an English translation of “Vernal Equinox Day” but that isn’t quite right. O-Higan is the week that surrounds an equinox. The equinoxes (not quite sure if that should be “equinii” or something and dictionary.com wasn’t very helpful) are Japanese Buddhist holy days in celebration of the balance and harmony that the equinox symbolizes–not just in terms of hours of daylight but also in terms of a return of more moderate temperatures. O-Higan actually translates to “the other shore.” Buddhists believe that at these times of year conditions are optimal for crossing the shore from this world to the other shore, the shore of enlightenment.

 

Kiyou wa…Hina Matsuri!

Kiyou wa Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival), or Girls’ Day.  It is always on March 3rd (3/3).  FYI Boys’ Day is 5/5 and Tanabata is 7/7, but more on those later.  So, really, only families with daughters celebrate Hina Matsuri but there is evidence of it at grocery stores, conbeni, and the nursery schools I sometimes visit.   Families (or schools) that celebrate display Hina dolls on a stepped shelf.  The dolls can be pretty expensive so many families may only have the top shelf whereas the schools have the whole shebang (7 tiers).  The dolls are set up a few weeks prior to the holiday to wish for good health, growth, and luck for the girls of the family/establishment and then are promptly taken down on March 4th or else the daughters will never marry.