Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day

Odd numbers are considered special in Japan, and contribute to auspicious days in the yearly calendar, such as the first day of the first month or the third day of the third month. January 1 is important for New Year’s Day, the grandest holiday of the Japanese year, March 3 for “Girls’ Day,” May 5 for “Boys’ Day,” July 7 for Tanabata, or the Star Festival (celebrating love), and September 9 for Kiku no Sekku, or the Chrysanthemum Festival (celebrating ancestors). On display here [at Seabeck] are emperor dolls for Hinamatsuri, or Girls’ Day, also called Dolls’ Day, and a samurai helmet for Kodomo no Hi, or Children’s Day, which used to be called Tango no Sekku, or Boys’ Day.

The emperor dolls, also said to represent a Heian-era wedding, are traditionally placed on tiers or platforms, with protocols for dolls or other items that appear on each level of the hinadan, or doll stand (not used here). The emperor and empress dolls are always placed at the top, and doll sets like these are typically family heirlooms. This set was my wife’s, which she has now given to my daughter, Sarah. Girls’ Day traditions are known to have started at least by the year 1625, and adopted the name Hinamatsuri officially in 1687, so 2019 is the 332nd year for this annual festival. No doubt next year’s festival will be particular auspicious because it will have been celebrated for 333 years.

The samurai helmet is traditionally displayed for what used to be called Boys’ Day, but is now called Kodomo no Hi, or Children’s Day. Although it was designated a national holiday only as recently as 1948, it has been celebrated for centuries and was originally known as Tango no Sekku. For Children’s Day, many families display a koinobori, a carp-shaped windsock, with colours representing specific family members, typically black for the father and red or pink for the mother, and other colours for children, which has led to this festival also being called the “Feast of Banners.” The Boys’ Day history that is now part of Children’s Day usually included the display of a kabuto, or traditional Japanese military helmet usually worn by samurai warriors. This replica helmet belonged to my wife’s brother, who gave it to my son, Thomas. Boys’ Day is thought to have started in the sixth century and is also known as Ayame no Hi or Iris Festival.

Bashō used the word “kabuto” in one of his most famous poems:

むざんやな甲の下のきりぎりす

muzan ya na

kabuto no shita no

kirigirisu

You may know Makoto Ueda’s translation:

how pitiful!

underneath the helmet

a cricket chirping

Here is Adam L. Kern’s translation:

heartbreaking indeed!

beneath an armoured helmet,

a chirping cricket

So now you can see what that helmet looks like in Bashō’s well-known poem. Both Girls’ Day and Boys’ Day, and now Children’s Day, have been traditional Japanese kigo, or season words, for as long as poets have been writing haiku. I invite you to take a closer look at these displays. And I thank my son and daughter, and my wife, for allowing me to display these cherished family heirlooms.