While people in Japan put up decorations to celebrate different holidays, most of them are placed inside the home, such as the dolls for Girls’ Day/Hina Matsuri in March or the vegetables displayed during Obon in the summer. Out in public, though, though, you’d be hard-pressed to tell one Japanese holiday from another, with the exception of Children’s Day/Kodomo no Hi on May 5.
That’s because when Children’s Day rolls around, all you have to do is look up at all of the beautifully awesome carp streamers flying overhead,
Children’s Day used to be known as Boys’ Day, and families with sons would fly a carp streamer (koinobori in Japanese) for each of their male children above their home. As the cloth caught the breeze, it would writhe back and forth, looking like it was valiantly swimming upstream, which was taken as a symbol showing that the family’s young men would grow up to be similarly strong and brave.
Since May 5 became officially renamed Children’s Day, some families have begun flying carp streamers for their daughters as well, although the practice is still much more widespread in families with boys. What hasn’t changed, though, is how cool they look.
https://twitter.com/wasabitool/status/594989684100476928While many families still fly their koinobori individually from the roofs or balconies of their own homes, in some communities they’re displayed en masse, often strung over a river.
吹く風爽やか
— 時計草 (@tokeisou88) April 30, 2015
材木岩(宮城県白石市)の鯉のぼり pic.twitter.com/eDOQfzLNbV
皆さん、お早うございますヽ(´∀`。)ノ
— よっちゃん (@utamarukousa) April 30, 2015
早いもので風薫る5月に成りました。
今月も楽しいお付き合いを宜しくお願いします☆
では、楽しいゴールデンウイークを٩(๑′∀ ‵๑)۶•*¨*•.¸¸♪❤
行って来まーす♪#鯉のぼり pic.twitter.com/qSiT5ftKhW
While this practice is most common in rural areas, you can sometimes spot it in more developed areas as well.
【恋のぼり】
— hiroro (@hika_ri1020) May 2, 2015
五月晴れの気持ちいい午後
川を泳ぐ鯉のぼり
私の気持ちもあなたの心に
たどりつけますように…
大人の日もあったらいいのにね…
素敵な休日をお過ごしください
*⑅ ⋆♡*⑅ ⋆♡*⑅ ⋆♡*⑅ ⋆♡*⑅ ⋆ pic.twitter.com/c1gRLgM350
「鯉のぼりすぎ」
— ふぁぼぴく@きょうすけ (@kyousukeimg) May 2, 2015
☆大阪府高槻市/芥川桜堤公園#写真好きな人と繋がりたい pic.twitter.com/sTcbdK6LsA
Of course, if you’re living in the concrete jungle of urban Japan, you might not have a river nearby. That’s not an insurmountable problem, though, as shown in this video by expat and YouTube user BusanKevin who lives in an apartment complex that hangs its koinobori between the high-rises.
Sometimes, the koinobori are amassed in such a large school of fabric fish that they almost block out the sky.
https://twitter.com/TheZekkei/status/593265252491362304おはようございます。
— イルカ (@shonan_iruka) May 2, 2015
今日も「感謝」の気持ちと「ありがとう」が素直に言える一日。
そして、笑顔で過ごしましょう。
写真は、【鯉のぼり】→ pic.twitter.com/Ot32F416vW
▼ Even this dog got in on the carp streamer fun.
コロンたん、鯉のぼりの羽根が生えました😁 pic.twitter.com/Rn9vBZOtnn
— 白ポメラニアン コロンちゃん (@5577coron) May 2, 2015
▼ A rare case of color-coordinated koinobori
青い鯉のぼりプロジェクト。東松島市大曲浜地区では追悼の意味を込めて、毎年この時期に数百匹の青い鯉のぼりを揚げます。5日の昼にはこの下で演奏などのイベントも開かれます。https://t.co/FwLbRXeLoW pic.twitter.com/jg2zVT2WOX
— T. Suzuki (@jpnsuzuki) April 29, 2015
As a matter of fact, koinobori have such an established cultural legacy that they were even included in Disney’s Big Hero 6, albeit in mechanized form.
And of course, like any iconic image of Japan, they look especially cool with Mt. Fuji in the background.
【子供の日】
— イルカ (@shonan_iruka) May 4, 2015
おはようございます。
今日も「感謝」の気持ちと「ありがとう」が素直に言える一日。
そして、笑顔で過ごしましょう。
写真は、【富士山・鯉のぼり】→ pic.twitter.com/XjdW8MJxPr
See you again next year, koinobori!
Source: Kaigai Matome.net
Insert image: YouTube
Leave a Reply