子どもの日 (Children's Day)

The other day I decided that it was time to begin filling out Kio's baby book. I had been noting things down on slips of paper or saving important firsts in my phone but hadn't actually started filling out the book. As my time for doing such things is fairly limited recently (as demonstrated by the frequency I add to this blog), I figured that I should just cut out the middle man and write things directly into the book.

I was flipping through trying to decide where to start, when I came to the heading Baby's First Holiday with the subheading Gifts Received. I originally thought that I would have to wait until Christmas to fill out this page but then I remembered that Kodomo no hi (Children's Day) was coming up in Japan and Kio had already received his present.

First a little history lesson.

Traditionally, the fifth day of the fifth month was a day for celebrating the the health and strength of young boys, and third day of the third month, the Doll's Festival (Hina Matsuri), was for celebrating little girls. Now, May 5th is a national holiday for both girls and boys to celebrate their health, growth and happiness. However, there is still a focus on little boys.

Lesson finished.

Before Kio was even a month old, Shin's dad had generously offered to buy a kabuto (Japanese traditional helmet) to display on Kodomo no hi. I was rather reluctant to accept his offer for three reasons: 1) Lack of storage and display space in our apartment. 2) They can be outlandishly expensive and Shin's dad is the type to go overboard. 3) Honestly, they're just not that nice.

As grandpa Hirano seemed rather disappointed Shin offered up a compromise, why not buy Kio a set of Koi no bori (Carp Streamers / Flags).

Years ago I took a road trip around the island of Shikoku and saw hundreds of colourful carp streamers strung up over rivers all over the island. Since then I have always wanted one.

Now we have three!

Right, time for another little lesson.

Koi no bori are displayed outside the home (in our case, from the balcony) to signify that there is a boy or boys living there. The black fish represents the father, the red one the mother, and then one smaller fish for each of the boys living in the house. Kio's streamer is blue. The top streamer on our set has Kio's name on it: 希於.

 

The fish are huge! The name streamer and daddy fish are 1.5 meters long but I've seen some that are over three meters in length. They do look lovely when they're stretched out in the wind. They don't look so lovely when stuck in the spider infested bushes three storys down.

Sorry Shin, I just thought they needed a little adjusting.

As with most Japanese holidays, Kodomo no hi is celebrated with food but we've started our own tradition. Yesterday we took Kio shopping and Shin bought him a new outfit and I bought him a book. A little something traditional and a little something Hirano, just how we like it.

Happy Children's Day Kio,

love and kisses from mommy and daddy!