Monday, November 07, 2005
Japanese Children get Blessed and Gifted (with candy!)
Prayers and Blessings for Children Aged 7, 5, & 3
My family and friends back in the USA often ask me, "What's life like in Japan?" The question is impossible to answer, not least because for me it's not all that different from life anwhere. I suppose, though, that they mean, "What's different?" Those of you following my blog may have already glimpsed a bit of rural Japan through my eyes as an outsider. Here, then, is one more difference.
Japanese, like anyone else, value their children highly, and some seasonal festivals celebrate birth, development and coming of age of their sons and daughters. Shichi-go-san means 7-5-3 and is one such celebration.
Although Shichi-go-san is really on November 15th, it's not an official holiday, so parents choose the weekend before or after to take their girls of 3 or 7 years, or their boys of 5, to the local Shinto shrine. The kimono-clad little girls look like beautiful, elegant dolls walking the streets hand-in-hand with their parents. Boys too, dress in fine style, wearing traditional Japanese jackets and trousers, haori and hakama.
Shichi-go-san was originally limited to the samurai class, but spread to the general population in the Edo Era of the 17th century. On November 15th, families visit the Shinto shrine, where parents and priests pray for the children's health and development. Specific details of the children's appearance act as landmarks in the children's growing up. Traditionally, both boys and girls no longer shave their heads after turning 3 years old. Going out in public wearing hakama is first permitted when boys turn 5. And girls of 7 can at last stop tying their kimono closed with cords, using instead the more elaborate and elegant obi for the task.
Shichi-go-san is an important day for families of small children. Relatives may gather for the event, perhaps even coming from far away. Playing the good host or hostess is not the loving parents' only expense. Girls' kimonos are often family heirlooms, handed down from generation to generation, but the requisite trip to the beauty parlor for a full work-up can cost thousands of yen, more if renting a kimono. And, having gone to all the trouble of looking good, a trip to the photography studio is an expensive must. Finally, after visiting the shrine, good children are treated to chitose ame, or Thousand-Year candy, served in a bag decorated with symbols of luck and longevity like turtles, cranes, pine and bamboo. The candy, too, represents the parents' prayers for a long and prosperous life for their children.
Shichi-go-san is a time when mothers and fathers dress their children up in their holiday best and proudly present them to the world. The best place to see families celebrating in Tsuruoka is the Shonai Shrine in the heart of Tsuruoka City Park on November 12 and 13. Chances are good that, if you were to ask, no one would mind letting you take a picture or two of their little ones. They might even insist that you join the photo!
Here's a terrific link to Shichi-go-san homepage. ¶ 11/07/2005 02:46:00 PM
Prayers and Blessings for Children Aged 7, 5, & 3My family and friends back in the USA often ask me, "What's life like in Japan?" The question is impossible to answer, not least because for me it's not all that different from life anwhere. I suppose, though, that they mean, "What's different?" Those of you following my blog may have already glimpsed a bit of rural Japan through my eyes as an outsider. Here, then, is one more difference.
Japanese, like anyone else, value their children highly, and some seasonal festivals celebrate birth, development and coming of age of their sons and daughters. Shichi-go-san means 7-5-3 and is one such celebration.
Although Shichi-go-san is really on November 15th, it's not an official holiday, so parents choose the weekend before or after to take their girls of 3 or 7 years, or their boys of 5, to the local Shinto shrine. The kimono-clad little girls look like beautiful, elegant dolls walking the streets hand-in-hand with their parents. Boys too, dress in fine style, wearing traditional Japanese jackets and trousers, haori and hakama.
Shichi-go-san was originally limited to the samurai class, but spread to the general population in the Edo Era of the 17th century. On November 15th, families visit the Shinto shrine, where parents and priests pray for the children's health and development. Specific details of the children's appearance act as landmarks in the children's growing up. Traditionally, both boys and girls no longer shave their heads after turning 3 years old. Going out in public wearing hakama is first permitted when boys turn 5. And girls of 7 can at last stop tying their kimono closed with cords, using instead the more elaborate and elegant obi for the task.Shichi-go-san is an important day for families of small children. Relatives may gather for the event, perhaps even coming from far away. Playing the good host or hostess is not the loving parents' only expense. Girls' kimonos are often family heirlooms, handed down from generation to generation, but the requisite trip to the beauty parlor for a full work-up can cost thousands of yen, more if renting a kimono. And, having gone to all the trouble of looking good, a trip to the photography studio is an expensive must. Finally, after visiting the shrine, good children are treated to chitose ame, or Thousand-Year candy, served in a bag decorated with symbols of luck and longevity like turtles, cranes, pine and bamboo. The candy, too, represents the parents' prayers for a long and prosperous life for their children.
Shichi-go-san is a time when mothers and fathers dress their children up in their holiday best and proudly present them to the world. The best place to see families celebrating in Tsuruoka is the Shonai Shrine in the heart of Tsuruoka City Park on November 12 and 13. Chances are good that, if you were to ask, no one would mind letting you take a picture or two of their little ones. They might even insist that you join the photo!
Here's a terrific link to Shichi-go-san homepage. ¶ 11/07/2005 02:46:00 PM
