Festivals in the Summer
Children's Day
(5 May 2009)
Also known as "Kodomo-no-i", this festival is a
day for children occurring on the fifth day of the fifth
month. Originally referred to as "Boy's Day" ("Girl's Day"
is Hina Matsuri), Children’s Day is a national holiday in
Japan. Families fly carp-shaped streamers (koinobori) on
tall bamboo poles outside the house: the carp is a symbol
of strength in Japan.
Boys decorate a warrior doll with armour and weapons and
everyone feasts on rice cakes (kashiwamochi) filled with sweet
red beans and covered up with oak leaves or chimaki (rice cakes
wrapped in cogan grass or bamboo leaves).
Tanabata (Star Festival)
(7 July)
The
Tanabata Festivals are most famously held in Japan, especially
in the cities of Sendai (6-8 August) and Hiratsuka (7 July). A few days before the festival,
people
traditionally write their wishes or poems on strips of colourful
paper. They are hung on the branches of cut bamboo and put
out
in the garden on the night of the 7th. The coloured paper
hung on the bamboo make such a pretty sight that they are
sometimes called summer Christmas trees.
This tradition has its origins in a Chinese legend, which
says that Kengyu (the star Altair personified as
the Cowherd) and Orihime (the star Vega, personified
as the Weaving Girl) were
separated by Ama-no-gawa (the
River of Heaven, or Milky
Way). On this night Altair and Vega come together.