"Tango no Sekku" is a day of celebration for "boys."
Carp streamers and May dolls are displayed with the hope that the newborn child will "find happiness in life" and "protect against misfortune," and that he or she will grow up safely, strong, and healthy .
This sentiment has continued to this day as part of the Children's Day culture.
Please incorporate decorations that pray for healthy growth into your daily life.
◆Tango and Festival◆
In the Edo period, as the center of power shifted from the nobility to the samurai, the Boys' Festival came to be celebrated enthusiastically among the samurai as a festival of martial arts, as the sound of the Japanese iris (shobu) is the same as the Japanese word for martial arts, shobu. In those days, the Shogun family had a custom of celebrating the birth of a boy with a horse brand and a streamer. This custom was passed down to the samurai and commoners alike, evolving into the custom of displaying carp streamers, May dolls, and helmets. It became an important event to pray for the safe growth of a boy born as the successor to the family, and for the prosperity of the clan, and has remained a day to celebrate the birth and growth of boys to this day.
◆Tango no Sekku and Children's Day◆
In 1948, May 5th was designated as "Children's Day," and it became a national holiday to wish happiness for children, regardless of gender, and to express gratitude to mothers.
For the Tango celebrations, there are external decorations such as carp streamers and flags, and internal decorations such as May dolls and helmet ornaments. Since each has a different meaning, we will introduce them separately.
◆ Displaying May dolls ◆
1. Why do we display Kabuto ornaments (May dolls)?
2. Scenery during the Boys' Day season
◆ Decorating carp streamers ◆
3. Why do we decorate carp streamers?
4. History and culture of carp streamers
◆1. Why do we display Kabuto decorations (May dolls)?◆
This refers to the May decorations such as helmet decorations, armor decorations, and warrior dolls (child general decorations).
May decorations are displayed as talismans to protect children, with the hope that they will avoid misfortunes such as illness and accidents and grow up strong.
Helmets, armor, and bows are sometimes thought of as battle equipment, but for a warlord, helmets and armor were important equipment for self-protection. The helmets and armor on May dolls are imbued with the wish "May they protect my child."
Since seasonal change makes it easy for evil spirits to approach (and people to fall ill) around festival times , there has long been a custom of making offerings to ward off evil spirits and praying for good health.
◆2. Scenery during the Boys' Day season◆
Although May today is the refreshing beginning of summer, May in the lunar calendar corresponds to June today.
In other words, the rainy season begins from mid-May in the lunar calendar. "Tango" refers to the first day of the horse month in the lunar calendar.
During the Kamakura period, samurai families had the custom of taking their armor and helmets out of the storehouse to air out their armor, air them out, and take care of them before the rainy season, and then displaying them in their homes.
This scenery during the Boy's Day season is the origin of the decoration of carp streamers with helmets and bows.
◆3. Why do we decorate carp streamers?◆
In addition to carp streamers, flags have long been popular outdoor decorations for the Boys' Festival.
Carp streamers are filled with wishes for children to grow up healthy and succeed in life, just like the carp streamers that swim leisurely in the sky.
◆4. History and culture of carp streamers◆
Originally in Japan, there was a custom of celebrating the birth of a boy to the Shogun by raising flags (flags with the family crest) and banners. Eventually, this spread to samurai families, who began to raise banners as a sign that a boy had been born, and it became customary to display armor and helmets on the Boys' Festival, as well as to air out the infants.
Wealthy merchants in Edo imitated the samurai and began to display replicas of military equipment, and when this spread among townspeople, the idea of using carp, a symbol of social advancement, as banners was born, and this became the carp streamer.
(※What does "succeeding in life" mean?
It originates from the famous Chinese legend of "Dragon Gate" and in Japan, "Carp Climbing the Waterfall."
(In the upper reaches of the Yellow River in China, there is a waterfall with a series of rapids called Ryumon, and it is said that any fish that makes it to the top will become imbued with spiritual power and turn into a dragon. The only freshwater fish with the strength to climb the waterfall is the carp, and one day, a carp managed to climb Ryumon against the raging water of the waterfall, and transformed into a dragon and ascended to the heavens. In China, the dragon is also a symbol of the emperor, and is considered very auspicious.)
Carp are hardy fish that can live in places other than clear streams such as swamps and ponds.
In the flow of life,
I hope you will overcome difficult obstacles like a carp.
I want them to grow into strong people who can persevere even in the face of adversity.
This wish was also expressed in the name.
(As the saying goes, carp streamers do indeed fly powerfully against the wind, so in recent years they are often used as a symbol of recovery.)
As times continue to change, I feel that the original meaning of this phrase has become even stronger in recent years. Even in times of change, the feelings of parents remain the same.
