Children's Day

From ancient rites to modern holiday

The festival traces back to Tango no Sekku, an ancient court ceremony observed on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Early customs involved women thatching roofs with wild iris leaves to drive away harmful spirits and take physical rest. As military rulers gained power in the Kamakura era, the occasion became focused on boys. The Japanese word for iris shared its pronunciation with a term meaning devotion to martial values, while the plant's long blades mirrored swords. In 1948, the Japanese government re-established the date as a public holiday celebrating both boys and girls alongside their parents.

Carp windsocks and warrior displays

Families celebrate by raising large fabric fish streamers called koinobori outside their houses. Drawing on a legend where a persevering carp travels upriver to transform into a dragon, these windsocks feature a black fish for the father, a red or pink fish for the mother, and additional colored fish for each child. Indoors, households set up Gogatsu Ningyo, which are ornamental sets containing miniature warrior armor or helmets. These tiered arrangements often include miniature long swords, bows, war fans, and samurai hats, placed inside the home to watch over the children and wish them resilience.

Purification and festive sweets

The wild iris, known locally as shōbu, features in many domestic traditions on this day. People float iris leaves in hot bathwater, steep sliced roots in sake, or tuck wrapped leaves under their pillows at night to encourage protection. Special foods mark the celebration as well. Families enjoy chimaki, which consists of sweet glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or iris foliage. They also prepare kashiwa mochi, a steamed rice pastry containing sweet bean paste wrapped in an oak leaf. The oak leaf symbolizes lasting family lines, as older leaves remain attached to branches until fresh leaves develop.

How Children's Day is kept

Families mark the day at home and in their neighbourhoods. Outdoors, households hoist carp banners on tall poles, arranging different colors to represent each parent and child. Inside, families set up displays of miniature samurai helmets, armor, or historic folk hero figures on tiered shelves. People prepare hot iris baths for bathing, slice iris leaves into evening sake, and wrap bundles of festive rice sweets. Household members gather to share chimaki wrapped in bamboo leaves along with bean-filled rice treats folded inside oak foliage.

When and where

The holiday is observed annually on May 5. Originally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar moon during the imperial court era, the date moved to May 5 after Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar. It serves as the final national holiday of Golden Week.

Children's Day is observed throughout Japan as an official nationwide public holiday. Families celebrate the occasion in private homes, residential yards, and local communities across the country, where carp streamers fly above rooftops and rivers.

What Children's Day means

The carp windsock draws from an old legend of a carp swimming upstream to become a dragon, symbolizing courage, resilience, and success. Miniature warrior armor and helmets reflect wishes for health, physical strength, and safety from harm. Oak leaves enclosing festival rice treats stand for the prosperity and continuation of future generations, since mature leaves remain on branches until new growth appears. Iris leaves, resembling swords, represent protection from evil spirits.

On the table

• Kashiwa mochi
• Chimaki
• Iris sake

Days Children's Day is marked

Questions people ask about Children's Day

See also

HanamiA Japanese spring custom of gathering under blooming cherry trees to eat, drink, and celebrate the fleeting beauty of thJiaoziCrescent Chinese dumplings filled with meat or vegetables, eaten for fortune and feastsNaengmyeonLong buckwheat noodles in icy broth, born in North Korea and eaten most in summerDouble Ninth FestivalAn autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembrance

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Children's Day (Japan) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.