Discussion

Japan's Golden Week

In week 5 of this semester, we spoke of Japanese holidays. One of them was Ōgon Shūkan (黄金週間), Golden Week, a weeklong celebration from April 29 through May 5 in honor of four events, the last of which is Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day) to express love for children and to promote their spiritual and physical welfare. The photo is from a previous year's parade in Fukuoka City on the island of Kyūshu honoring the event. Fukuoka City usually has the largest celebration in Japan.

This picture shows just one of the approximately 210 groups participating in the parade, totaling about 20,000 people in all. There were also 34 performance stages scattered around the city for additional entertainment.

Kodomo no Hi

Kodomo no Hi has roots going back at least to the Asuka Period (538 - 710). It has variously been known as Tango no Sekku (First Day of the Horse) symbolizing virility, strength, and bravery; Shōbu no Sekku (Iris Fete), bathing in a hot tub steeped with iris leaves to promote virility, bravery, and good health; and Gogatsu no Sekku (May Festival). During the Edo Period (1603 - 1868), it became popular with the military class and the common people as Otoko no Sekku (Boys' Day). In 1948, it was officially renamed Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day) in honor of all children.

Though all children are celebrated on Kodomo no Hi, many of its Boys' Day traditions continue. One of them is the flying of Koi (Carp) streamers, giving the holiday the alternate name of Feast of Banners.

Traditionally, the flying of koi streamers is a family thing. A pole (koi no bori) is erected at people's homes. At the top is mounted a windmill (kazaguruma) and below that are parti-colored streamers (fukinagashi) represent flowing water. Next comes koi (carp) windsocks.

The black koi at the top (magoi) represents the father, the mother is represented by the red koi (higoi) below that, and next come one blue koi each for every male child in the family. The boys' koi sizes are different depending on the age of the child. The koi streamers represent the strength and determination of carp to fight their way upstream over cascades and waterfalls, a fitting symbol of growing boys typifying ambition, energy, strength, perseverance, and the will to overcome obstacles.

These days, it's not just a family thing. Whole cities can get in the act.

Traditional Foods

One of the favorite foods served during Kodomo no Hi is kashiwa mochi, sweet rice cakes filled with sweet bean paste and wrapped in oak leaves. Sometimes flavors are added to the rice paste, adding to the color as well as the taste. One of the flavorings is yomogi (mugwart) which gives the mochi a green color.

Another favorite food is chimaki, cone-shaped steamed rice dumpling, wrapped in bamboo leaves. Sometimes sweet red bean paste is embedded inside.

Chimaki is eaten by untying then unwrapping the bamboo leaves. The rice takes on some of the pleasant flavor of the bamboo leaves.

Japanese confectionary stores sell kashiwa mochi year round, but chimaki is available only during Golden Week.

Song

As with Girls' Day, Kodomo no Hi has traditional songs associated with it. One of them is below.

Japanese Armor

Another Children's Day tradition that carried over from Boys' Day is the setting up in homes of special displays. On Girls' Day, ranks of special dolls are displayed (see LESSON MODULE 5). On Children's Day, families that can afford it display a complete set of feudal armor with accessories.

Most of the items in the illustration above are labeled, but notice the archery paraphernalia to the left of the armor, helping to complete the martial display. The displays in most homes are much more modest, often consisting only of a kabuto (helmet) sitting on a pillow like the one below that we have for our son. It's not a real kabuto but a realistic scale model.

The three most significant components of a suit of Japanese armor were the helmet (kabuto), mask (menpō), and chest armor (dō).

The suit of armor shown below was made during two periods. The helmet and face mask date from about 1530 in the Muromachi Period (1336 - 1573). The rest of the ensemble is from the Edo Period (1603 - 1868) and were made sometime in the 17th to 18th centuries. Materials used in the construction were iron, lacquer (to prevent corrosion), gold, silver, copper, bronze, silk, and leather. The total weight of a typical set of armor ranged from 20 to 45 pounds.

Here is a close-up view of an Edo Period face mask made in 1710. It would be attached to a helmet at the top and have a throat protector connected at the bottom. Because the Edo Period brought centuries of peace to Japan, armor, mask, and helmet designs began to become more decorative. Nonetheless, they remained fully functional.

Pictured below is of a real kabuto. The bronze colored object mounted in front of the kabuto that has a vertical center pointing upward with U-shaped "wings" coming up from the bottom is sort of a crest. It identifies the wearer as the member of a particular clan or military group.

Here is another kabuto. This one has a very different crest than the one above.

The picture below shows a variety of crests that were in use.

Artwork

Among the many subjects popular in ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints) were pictures of samurai and warfare. The picture below by Shuntei Katsukawa (1770-1820) depicts a 12th century battle scene between the Genji clan and the Heike clan.

The next print by Yoshitora Utagawa (fl. 1840 - 1880) is of Samurai Sumitomo from Iyo Provence.

This next ukiyo-e is of part of a koi no bori by Ando Hiroshige (1797 - 1858).