Sunday, May 6, 2012

Kodomo no hi - Cinqo de Mayo, Japanese Style



Children's Day (こどもの日 Kodomo no hi?) is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5th. It is a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness.







The boys came home from school last week donning their kabuto and koi-no-bori as part of Kodomo no hi, or Boy's Day/Children's Day.  Kabuto (兜, 冑) are a type of helmet worn by samurai warriors. The Koinobori (鯉幟?), are carp-shaped wind socks traditionally flown in Japan to celebrate Children's Day. (KodomonohiKabuto & Koinobori definitions from Wikipedia).  Dougie's Koinobori were cut out and colored by the boy himself.  Ian's are cut out prints.  These boys wore their kabuto around for days, wherever we went.  They looked a bit like the Little Dutch Girl...












Ian was getting off the bus and I managed to snap this picture...  The koinobori were covered in plastic to protect them from the wind and/or rain.  As soon as his sensei had him pose, I got the scowl...


And then I got a smile...













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