Children’sDay

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Shuchiba, CC BY-SA-4.0

Kodomo no Hi
Children’s Day is celebrated in Japan on 5th May. It used to be known as Boys’Day, but nowadays the festival is a way to celebrate the health and happinessof all children, both boys and girls. The festival is called Kodomo no Hi inJapanese. Kodomo means ‘children’.

Koi Fish
The carp fish is a symbol of strength and courage in Japanbecause carp can swim upstream. The word for carp in Japaneseis koi. In fact, there is a famous story in Japan about a very special carp.
The story originally comes from a Chinese legend and goes like this: oneday there was a school of carp fish swimming together up the river, theirscales glistening like jewels in the water. It was a difficult journey andwhen they came to a waterfall many of the fish turned back, letting thewater carry them away. However, some fish stayed and tried to jump over
the waterfall into the river above. For 100 years, they tried and tried andfinally, one fish made it to the top of the waterfall! The Gods thought thisstrong and determined fish should be rewarded and so they transformed
the carp into a dragon!

Why do you think it would be difficult to swim upstream like acarp?

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Koi Nobori
From the end of April, there are public displays of bright and colourful flags
shaped like carp fish and many families will display carp flags outside theirhouses too. These flags are called koi nobori.

Daiju Azuma, CC BY-SA-2.0

t-konno, CC BY-SA-3.0

When families display koi nobori at home, there are usually
several carp on the pole. Traditionally the largest one
represents the father, followed by the mother and then thechildren.
Can you work out which carp is in the picture on the right?

Kintaro Dolls
Another way to celebrate Children’s Day is to display a Kintaro Doll. Kintaro
is the name of a legendary hero from a Japanese folktale who grew up in themountains, befriended animals, and later became a courageous warrior. It issaid that he rode a bear instead of a horse! Just like Kintaro, parents hope theirchildren will be kind, brave and strong!

Rodtico21, CC BY-SA-3.0

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Kabuto Helmets
Kabuto is a type of helmet that was worn in the past by Japanesewarriors. They were part of traditional armour in Japan andworn by Japanese samurai warriors, so the helmet is a symbolof bravery and strength.
Nowadays, some families will display small ornaments such as kabuto helmets
and samurai dolls at home around the time of the festival. Many school children
will make origami kabuto helmets to wear on Childrenʼs Day.
If you visit a Japanese castle or Childrenʼs Day event around the 5th May, you
may see people dressed up in samurai armour.

FoodLike other Japanese festivals, there is a special sweet associated with ChildrenʼsDay, it’s called kashiwa mochi. These are chewy rice cakes (mochi) with a sweet
red bean paste filling. Each sweet is wrapped in an oak leaf (kashiwa).
The oak leaves cannot be eaten, but are used for decoration. The leaves area symbol of wealth and success for families because oak trees keep their oldleaves until new sprouts grow.

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ko do mo no hi

Kanji Characters
In Japanese, the kanji characters for kodomo or children are: 子供. However, kodomo
is usually written in hiragana in the name of the festival like this: こどもの日.
Why not try writing them below? Follow the stroke order and trace each character,then practice writing them on your own.
①①④⑤③②③②ko⑥⑦⑧domo

子供Well done! Now you can practice writing the characters 力, for ‘strength’ and 鯉, for‘carp’.

力力
鯉鯉②①chikara①③④⑥②⑤⑦⑧ ⑨ ⑩⑫⑬
⑭ ⑯⑮⑰

⑪ ⑱koi

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Activity: Origami Challenge!
You will need:••origami paper or square paper
pen or pencil

Kabuto Helmet

Use 60 cm wide squared newspaper or sugar paper for a large wearable one.

1. Fold in half tomake a crease
then unfold.

2. Foldin half.

4. Fold eachside up in half.

5. Folddown.

7. Fold up
in the centreline.

8. Tuck in.

3. Fold down.

6. Fold up to
approximately
the centre of
the top half.

9. Finished!

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Koi Nobori

13

1. Fold in half to make acrease then unfold.

2. Fold in top and bottom,
1
approximately 3 of the length.

3. Fold backward.

unfold

7. Fold down

8. Fold in the dotted line to
make a crease then unfold.

10. Fold up to make a crease
then unfold.

9. Fold in the dotted line
then fold in half again.

11. Tuck in and pocket fold in
the dotted line.

12. Fold down to make a crease,then tuck in and pocket fold inthe dotted line.

13. Draw the eyes and scales and glue onto astraw or stick with other decorations.

14. Finished!

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SocietyEducation
Resources| education@japansociety.org.uk| www.japansociety.org.uk© The
Japan|Society(2021)| www.japansociety.org.uk| education@japansociety.org.uk

The Japan Society | Education Resources | education@japansociety.org.uk | www.japansociety.org.uk© The Japan Society (2021) | www.japansociety.org.uk | education@japansociety.org.uk

Activity: Design Your Own Koi Nobori!