LAG B'OMER: KIDS AND FAMILY BACK-TO-NATURE DAY 930 am to 1130 am
Children’s Day, Kodomo no Hi 10 am to 1 PM
May 5th is Children's Day, or こどもの日, when families celebrate the healthy growth and happiness of children. It officially became a national holiday in 1948, but has been a day of celebration in Japan since ancient times. Dating back to the Nara Period when it was known as Tango no Sekku (端午の節句), it was a day to celebrate the perseverance, strength and well being of boys.
On Children's Day, families with boys fly huge, carp-shaped streamers known as koinobori (鯉のぼり) outside the house and display dolls of famous warriors and other heroes inside. The carp was chosen because it symbolizes strength and success. According to an ancient Chinese legend, a carp swam upstream to become a dragon.
In recent years, as space is becoming more precious and more people have moved into apartments and smaller houses, the carp streamers have also gotten smaller, and there are now miniature versions available that are decorated indoors.
Tango no Sekku (端午の節句) was renamed ‘Kodomo no Hi’ こどもの日 - Children’s day, after the post-War constitution took effect in 1948 and was changed to include girls as well in order to express gratitude toward mothers. Symbolically the holiday is still predominantly for boys, however. There is a separate girls day on March 3rd, known as the ‘Hina Matsuri’ (ひな祭り) or doll’s festival.
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