Essential Japanese Seasonal Decorations - Summer

Seasonality: Early Summer/ May

Japanese Name: Kodomo no Hi/ Tango no Sekku/ Ayame no Hi/ Ayame/ Koinobori/ Kabuto/ Kintaro/ Kashiwa-mochi/ Katana

English Name: Children’s Day/ Beginning Horse Festival/ Day of the Iris/ Iris/ Carp Streamers/ Samurai Helmet/ Oak Leaf Rice-Cake/ Sword

     Children's Day (こどもの日, or Kodomo no Hi) is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5, the fifth day of the fifth month, and is the final celebration in 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. It has been a day of celebration in Japan since ancient times. 

     Tango no Sekku (端午の節句) is one the five annual ceremonies that were traditionally held at the Japanese imperial court called Gosekku . It is the Japanese version of Double Fifth and was celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th moon in the lunar calendar or Chinese calendar. After Japan switched to the Gregorian calendar, the date was moved to May 5. Tan means "beginning" and go means "Horse", referring to the Chinese zodiac name for the fifth lunar month. Sekku means a seasonal festival. It marks the beginning of summer or the rainy season.

     Shobu no Sekku (菖蒲の節句), also known as Ayame no Hi (菖蒲の節句), the festival of the irises (in the old Japanese calendar, the day would fall closer to the summer solstice than it does in the modern calendar). The iris flower or flag has long been used in purifying rituals on this day, by farmers, townspeople, and courtiers. At least as far back as the 12th century this was a day for gathering iris leaves and flowers for use in the bath, as an addition to food and drink, and in decorations on the roofs of houses and shops. The iris bath is still popular on this day in Japan. During the 12th or 13th century the word "shobu" came to be associated with its homonym meaning "military spirit", and people started celebrating by decorating paper samurai helmets with irises. Thus it became a day for boys, as the third day of the third month was a special day for girls, Hina matsuri. In the 18th and 19th centuries, boys would stage battles using iris leaves as swords. One military tradition that has evolved and persisted, though, is the setting up of a special display celebrating warrior values and Japanese heroes. It may have begun with a custom of making helmets out of iris leaves, which evolved into the crafting of beautiful lacquered display helmets for the day, along with painted banners and displays of real weapons.

     Ayame (菖蒲), or Shobu, are types of irises that are said to give protection from evil spirits that were abroad on the fifth day of the fifth month. In the Imperial court, elegant decorations were made from the early-flowering Iris tectorum, but as the festival has evolved into Children’s Day, we are much more likely to see hana shobu on display. Their lower petals are larger and upper standards are much shorter than the slender ayame type of iris. Also, their sword-shaped leaves are narrow and ridged. Traditionally, boys bathe with iris leaves on this day, as the plant symbolizes the warrior spirit.

     Koinobori (鯉のぼり), meaning "carp streamer" in Japanese, are carp-shaped wind socks traditionally flown in Japan to celebrate Tango no sekku, a traditional calendrical event which is now designated a national holiday; Children's Day (Kodomo no Hi, 子供の日).  A typical koinobori set consists of, from the top of the pole down, a: 

Pair of arrow-spoked wheels (矢車 yaguruma) with a ball-shaped spinning vane, 

flying-dragon streamer (飛龍吹流し hiryū fukinagashi) that looks like a windsock. 

The number and meaning of the carp socks or koinobori that fly beneath the streamer has changed over time. 

Traditionally, the set would contain a black koinobori representing the father, followed by a smaller, red koinobori representing his eldest son. If more boys were in the household, an additional blue, green and then, depending on the region, either purple or orange koinobori were added. 

After the government's decree that converted Boy's Day (Tango no Sekku) into the present Children's Day (Kodomo no Hi), the holiday came to celebrate the happiness of both boys and girls. As a result, the red koinobori came to represent the mother of the family and it is not uncommon for the color to be varied as pink. Similarly, the other colors and sizes of carp came to represent all the family's children, both sons and daughters. 

At present, the koinobori are commonly flown above the roofs of houses with children, with the biggest (black) koinobori for the father, next biggest (red or pink) for the mother, and an additional, smaller carp of a different color for each child in decreasing order by age.

    Kabuto (兜, 冑) is a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors, and in later periods, they became an important part of the traditional Japanese armour worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan. Families often display a traditional Japanese military helmet, kabuto, due to their tradition as symbols of strength and vitality.

     Kintarō (金太郎), often translated as "Golden Boy," is a folk hero from Japanese folklore. A child of superhuman strength, he was raised by a yama-uba ("mountain witch") on Mount Ashigara. He became friendly with the animals of the mountain, and later, after catching Shuten-dōji, the terror of the region around Mount Ooe, he became a loyal follower of Minamoto no Yorimitsu under the new name Sakata no Kintoki (坂田 金時). He is a popular figure in Bunraku and kabuki drama, and it is a custom to put up a Kintarō doll on Boy's Day in the hope that boys will become equally brave and strong. 

     Kashiwa mochi (柏糯), are a rice cake (sometimes even flavoured with mugwort) filled with a sweet bean paste and wrapped in a single pickled oak (kashiwa) leaf. They represent strength, longevity and good fortune as the oak leaves do not fall off the tree until the new shoots begin to grow.

    Katana (刀) were one of the traditionally made Japanese swords (日本刀 nihontō) that were used by the samurai of ancient and feudal Japan. The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands.

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