Aloha
& Welcome to
Boy's Day
in
Hawaii
Click on the carp (and other photos :)
"Children make you want to start life over."
Muhammad Ali
"Boy, n.: a noise with dirt on it."
Not Your Average Dictionary
These little Japanese tourist boys at Waikiki's Army Museum are looking at a tank
that their great grandfather might have used in WWII.
"Children enjoy the present
because they have neither a past
nor a future."
Jean De La Bruyere
Aloha & Welcome to May fifth,
Tango-no-sekku, the Japanese Boy's Day Festival
that is also celebrated here in Hawaii.
The 5th day of the 5th month has been the day to celebrate boys for centuries. Tango-no-sekku means: "First Day of the Horse" because the strength, stamina, and courage of horses symbolize masculine qualities that boys should emulate.
Another animal associated with boy's day is the carp.
This powerful and determined fish is also regarded as a fitting example for boys. Dr. Freud might point out that the carp itself, long, cylindrical, and bold is a fitting representation of the most fundamental badge of manhood.
Girl's Day is celebrated with the display of dolls.
Boy's day, too, has it's own characteristic dolls: armored samurai warriors; nonetheless, it is the colorful carp banners (koi-nobori) one for every boy in the family, flown from bamboo poles outside the home, that are the overriding visual characteristic of the holiday. The largest carp honors the oldest son, the smallest, the youngest.
Today, in Japan, May fifth is celebrated as Children's Day.
But here in Hawaii we keep many old customs that the plantation workers brought with them. They intended to maintain their ethnic identities, but the magic of Hawaii has painted most every imported custom with our own unique qualities.
So let's celebrate boys, carp, AND girls, as we continue to appreciate everything that makes our island home
unique.
A L O H A! Cloudia
