In Hawaii, I’ve been introduced to two completely new holidays: Boys’ Day and Girls’ Day, or Tango no Sekku and Hinamatsuri. Both these holidays have been imported to the islands by the large Japanese population here, and are heavily promoted by everyone from convenient stores to large Japan-based department store chains.
Tango no Sekku was started during the reign of Empress Seiko, around 600 A.D. It is celebrated on May 5, the Japanese Golden Week (a period containing five major holidays, making it the rough equivalent to the US’s Christmas-New Years holiday period), and honors children’s personalities and their happiness. Girls’ Day may be even older, probably started officially during the Edo period as much as 19 centuries ago, and probably reaching back into prehistory.
Both these holidays were folded into a single day, Kodomo no Hi or Children’s Day, by the Japanese government in 1948, set to be celebrated on May 5, the original Boys’ Day. There is still some discomfort with that; the feeling of many is that it means Boys’ Day is celebrated nationally in Japan while Girls’ Day is ignored, at least by the government.
Girls’ Day is held on March 3. It is often called the Japanese Doll Festival, as one of the main traditions is a tiered display of the royal Japanese court in the form of dolls. The original idea behind Girls’ Day was to use the alleged power of the dolls to protect everyone from evil spirits by allowing the dolls to act as surrogates. Long ago, the dolls were set afloat in rivers and allowed to drift to the sea, in theory taking evil spirits with them.
Traditionally, each girl baby born should have her own set of new dolls, provided the family can afford to purchase them. Historically, girls held parties on Girls’ Day, inviting their friends and all dolls to little tea parties featuring a type of very mild rice wine and candies and cookies often made by the little girls themselves.
Regardless of how things work in Japan, in Hawaii both days are celebrated equally. Carp banners, symbolizing healthy young boys, are flown throughout the islands, and special events celebrating boys and girls alike are held on both the children’s holidays. Stylized images of the kabuto, the Japanese samurai war helmet, are prominently displayed to celebrate boys as well. Girls’ Day seems to be celebrated more with Hello Kitty paraphernalia than anything else, at least in Hawaii! But there are also beautiful displays of Japanese girls’ clothing, special cookies and cakes made of rice, and pretty festivals featuring hallmarks of femininity like flower lei and origami displays.
I had never heard of such charming customs until I moved here to Hawaii, but they make you think: the Japanese celebrate their ancestors and their children with equal fervor. If the United States celebrated at least their children in the same way, focusing their love and devotion on our little ones with the same passion, would our children have educational outcomes more similar to those of Japanese children? One has to wonder.
