Happy Children’s Day 2020!
Happy Children’s Day !
Children’s Day is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5th, and it is part of Golden Week Holidays.
The purpose of the Children’s Day is to celebrate children’s happiness and to respect their personalities.
The day was originally called “Tango no Sekku”, or Boy’s Festival, was celebrated in order to wish the healthy growth of the boys in the family.
On that day, families with boys raise ‘koi-nobori’, or the carp-shaped streamers outside the house, wishing their success in their lives. They also display ornamental helmets called Kabuto or samurai dolls at home, because they are believed to be symbols of strength and vitality.
Traditional foods such as ‘kashiwa-mochi’, mochi rice cakes wrapped in oak leavesand, and ‘chimaki’, rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves are eaten on that day. People put iris leaves and roots in the bath. It is believed that it will purge noxious vapor.
This year, my husband prepared kashiwamochi and I bought iris leaves and roots to put in a bath. Since it’s rare to put iris leaves and roots in a bathtub, my son enjoyed his long bath time tonight!
Of course, kashiwamochi was delicious with green tea.
