I had originally moved to Japan way back in 1974, which was the 49th year in the reign of Emperor Shōwa (known in the West as Hirohito). I had been born in the same year that the National Police Reserve was established (it became the Self-Defense Force in 1954), I had entered high school in the same year that Tokyo hosted the Olympics, and I arrived in Japan about a month-and-a-half before Gerald Ford was the first US president to visit Japan (and four years before New Tokyo International Airport, or Narita Airport, was opened). I was amazed at all the different national holidays in Japan, but what surprised me the most was the often week-long national holiday known as "Golden Week." and what was even more amazing was that I soon discovered that it began on April 29, or the reigning emperor's birthday, and ended on my own birthday!!! The holidays of the week in those days, together with later changes, were/are:
April 29 The Emperor's Birthday (Greenery Day from 1989; Shōwa Day from 2007)
May 3 Constitution Day
May 4 Greenery Day (from 2007)
May 5 Children's Day
I thought that was just swell. But I never liked calling May 5 "Children's Day." It was originally called "Tango no Sekku" (Banner Festival, or Double-Five Seasonal Festival), and was unofficially called "Boys' Day." Girls still had their festival, ("Momo no Sekku," Peach Festival), which was still called "Girls' Day," so as it was my very own birthday, I always chose to call it Tango no Sekku. This is the supposed origin of the name:
In the old lunar calendar, the Fifth Month was the Month of the Ox (there are Twelve Animals in the Oriental zodiac, and they rule years, months, days, and even hours of the day), and it became the custom to celebrate the first Day of Ox during the Month of the Ox. The way to write the name of this festival in Japanese is 端午の節句. The character 端 means "beginning," and 午 means "ox," so at first, the name simple meant the festival of celebrating the first Day of the Ox in the Month of the Ox.
The five seasonal festivals originated in China, but in Japan they became changed slightly and were celebrated thus:
Jan 1 Kochōhai Nobles processed before the emperor in the Jinjitsu ("Human Day")
celebrations, at which time people would eat rice gruel containing
seven herbs for health and good fortune (now celebrated on Jan 7).
Mar 3 Kyokusui Courtiers floated cups of rice wine down a stream in the palace garden.
Each guest would take a sip and then write a poem. Now it is the
Doll Festival, when families with young girls set up special displays
of beautiful dolls, incl. the Emperor & Empress, courtiers, musicians, . . .
May 5 Ayame no dai Ordinary people hung mugwort to dispel evil spirits; the Imperial
Court celebrated the Iris Festival. Later, families celebrated their sons
by hanging carp banners before their homes (they still do this).
July 7 Kikkōden Offerings were made on the Tanabata festival, celebrating the once-a-year
meeting of the star-crossed Weaving Maid (Vega) and Cowherd (Altair)
Sept 9 Chōyō no en Originally featuring chrysanthemum wine, this festival later became
associated with the autumn harvest and is now the Chrysanthemum
Festival.
Perhaps the Double Five Festival came to be associated with boys because the word for iris was written 菖蒲, which can be pronounced either ayame or shōbu, and shōbu is synonymous with 勝負, which means "battle" or "contest," since the characters literally mean victory-defeat. The leaves of the iris were considered sword-like, and they were added to the bath water to give the both strength—both physical prowess and moral fortitude. Iris leaves are still sold for this purpose, and I always put some in my bath on the evening of May 5. Quite often, even now, families with sons also display beautiful warrior dolls, or suits of armor (as in the photo below), for this festival.
In the display above, you can see a warrior's full array of battle armor (1, 2); military banners (4); bows and arrows (5) and a long sword (6); carp banners (10); and irises (15, and printed on the display fabric). The carp are a leftover from Chinese mythology: ancient Taoist tales tell of carp that persevere and strive with their last ounce of strength to swim up a waterfall and go through the Dragon Gate, upon which they become dragons.
So here in my adopted homeland, my birthday is a wonderful national holiday with a long history dating back to China. In fact, I share my birthday (May 5) with the Palestinian feast of St. George (the Dragon Slayer), as well as with many important people and events:
867 Emperor Uda of Japan is born
1260 Kubilai Khan becoms supreme ruler of the Mongol Empire
1494 Christopher Columbus discovers Jamaica and claims it for Spain
1813 Søren Kierkegaard is born
1818 Karl Marx is born
1821 Napoléon Bonaparte dies on St. Helena
1862 Cinco de Mayo: Mexican troops halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla
1865 The Confederate government was declared dissolved
1877 Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the US Army
1891 The Music Hall (later, Carnegie Hall) opened in New York
1941 Emperor Haile Selassie return to Addis Ababa (Liberation Day)
1950 Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned King Rama IX of Thailand [the day I was born!]
1961 Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel in outer space (a sub-orbital flight) [This
happened in the middle of my 10th birthday party with friends!]
1988 Adele (English singer-songwriter) is born
2010 Giulietta Simionato (operatic soprano) died at the age of 100
This year (2016), Golden Week begins tomorrow, Friday, April 29, and runs all the way through till May 5. Many people, thought, are taking the 6th off, so they can enjoy a 10-day holiday ending on Sunday, May 8—Mother's Day this year!
For those of us in Japan, I hope we all have a fantastic Golden Week! For those of you in other countries, have a Happy May Day!
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