THE BOY’S DAY TRADITION

by Sasama Yoshihiko

The following is a very free translation of a talk given by Sasama Yoshihiko Sensei the Nihon Katchu Bugu Rekishi Kenkyukai Kai Cho  at the May 3rd 1998 Katchu study group in Kamakura. The discussion flowed out of talk about items the group members had brought in for Sensei to examine, so there is no clear start or finish to the talk given. I have done my best to give it some order and have filled in details where I felt the reader may lack background;

There were five special days that were celebrated in Japan from ancient times, customs generally adopted from Chinese models  long ago.  These were called the GO SEKKU五節句, 5 special days or “Feasts.”  Originally these were called SECHINICHI, marking the change of seasons and the offerings made at these times  were called SEKKU and this became the common name.

There were:

••Ichigatsu Nanoka (Jan. 7), 七草NANAKUSA (7 herbs) NO SEKKU,

Sangatsu Mikka上巳(Mar. 3) 桃MOMO NO SEKKU or HINAMATSURI-Dolls Festival/Girls Day,

••Gogatsu Itsuka (May 5) 端午TANGO NO SEKKU, what we now call Boy’s day,

Shichigatsu Nanoka(Jul. 7) 七夕TANABATA,

••Kugatsu Kokonoka(Sept. 9)  重陽CHOYO NO SEKKU or KIKU NO SEKKU.

(Please keep in mind that these dates were based on a lunar calendar, the first month of which would be Feb. in the Gregorian calendar.)

These were all celebrated in the Imperial Court at Kyoto.

According to Chinese astrology the fifth month is a very inauspicious time of year, the worst month in fact.  A time when ghosts and demons walk the earth and try to inhabit the bodies of the living.  There is the old saying,  “Wear out 100 shoes in search of medicine (in May) .”  This was a custom and one of the herbs that they collected was the fragrant Ayame.  So at the palace they always collected and displayed Ayame hanging it from pillars and eaves and making decorations with it.  These included many herbs thought to be healthy or with protective powers;this eventually became the “Kusudama” decoration that we now know, which was placed by the gate to prevent evil from entering the house.  People making visits to the palace would put Ayame in their kanmuri or headdress and this is how the flower became popularly associated with this time of year.  Ayame is also called Shobu, as this is a homonym for “a match” it was appealing to the Buke and in Boy’s day displays you should always see Shobu or Iris somewhere.

The “Tan”端 character of Tango has the meaning of ; the edge, the beginning or outset. “Go”午 can mean horse but really has nothing to do with horses, but this was a popular play on the word.Tango could mean; "Setting out on horse back or setting out for war.”  So this was an auspicious time to start out on journeys or begin a new enterprise. 

At this time of year we also make Chimaki and Kashiwa mochi. Chimaki is related to a tradition from the time of the Chinese Emperor Shiko and the Shin Dynasty. When the Shin annexed the land of So and ousted its rulers, a high ranking minister of the So government, Katsunen, who was also a renowned poet, was so distraught at the loss of his beloved country he took his own life by leaping from a cliff in an area called Bekkira, this was on May Fifth.  So people in that area, in an effort to appease his spirit, would stuff raw rice into bamboo and then toss this over the cliff at the spot where he died, every year, on May fifth.

In the Heian period this custom was introduced into Japan, where the bamboo was tossed into the river instead.  Now tossing out good rice that someone else could pick up further down stream (the bamboo floats) was considered wasteful and inelegant. 

So the custom was then to wrap the rice in Shobu and Chigayo leaves and these were placed on the altar within the home. (Chigayo = Miscanthus) Now the practice had been to use raw rice but you can’t eat this and so with characteristic Japanese ingenuity they began to steam the rice in the leaves and it became “mochi like.”  In the Edo period the custom was to add anko to this, keep in mind however that at that time sugar was a very expensive commodity so most anko was shio or salt anko. When sugar became more abundant through trade, sweet anko became the norm, and sweet anko really is better. So you see it is now very different from the original practice, which is no longer followed in China, but chimaki is made and eaten to appease the spirit of Katsunen.

Kashiwa mochi is also a very old tradition. From the time of the MANYO, in olden times, when people used to travel they often had no utensils so would use the kashiwa or oak leaf as a rice bowl. This being well understood the mochi was often put in the Kashiwa leaf like the chimaki and so we get Kashiwa mochi.

Koi nobori or carp streamers (wind socks)(fig.ハ)developed from sashimono the flags and banners worn in battle to identify individual warriors and units. Among these there was the "Nobori bata" (see fig.イ). Such banners needed to be eye catching so many styles were created from this and so we get the fukinagashi or fukinuki(fig.ロ). Townsmen seemed to prefer Fukinagashi considering it easier on the tongue(Fukinagashi are the same thing but are half circles). The sashimono of a warrior house would be put out for display on Tango no Sekku some of these being fukinuki the action of which reminded someone of a carp. Thus it was only a matter time for that someone to create the first "carp" streamer.I believe these were popular among townsmen first and then spread to be popular everywhere. Originally the Fukinuki was flown at the top of the pole with carp underneath but now one sees only carp, usually the top one is large and black and this represents the father. Under this is a large red koi which is the mother and then one for each child; black for boys and red for girls. Since  carp are known to "swim against the current" and "surmount obstacles" they are considered "shusei", auspicious, successful. Koi were often presented as offering to shrines and in traditional Buke wedding ceremony the bride and groom sit before the tokonoma decorated with a pheasant on one side and a koi on the other.

I am reminded of a saying from the Kansai which goes;

江戸っ子は五月の鯉のふきながし　　くちさきばっかりではらわたはなし

Edokko wa satsuki no koi no fukinagashi        kuchi saki bakkari de harawata wa nashi

Edokko are like streamers on a may carp, big mouths with nothing in their stomachs (No hara,no guts)

What are referred to in America as "Boys day" swords are really just boys swords, there being no tradition of children wearing swords for this festival until the Meiji period. Of course today one can buy a montsuki/hakama set for a little boy to wear on this day or for shichigosan and some of these include a tanto but there is no blade.Some of these are surely "kugezashi" worn by courtiers which are often very small and light, no one wants to drag a sword around the palace all day. In the days of Yoritomo these would have had real blades but in the Edo period it would have been rare, so these became kazari tachi or jewelled swords just for show. Called "Kasadachi" in court slang they had no blade or no cutting edge but had gorgeous koshirae.Also referred to as 衛府之大刀Yo no tachi a word play on efutachi or "In no Yo" . 陽"Yo" being exterior/colour, these being the official or "stepping out" swords.

The gempuku was the coming of age ceremony for a samurai boy and there are so called gempuku-to which were swords in flashy koshirae to be worn for this ceremony. Samurai boys were almost always presented with a pair of adult swords on this occasion and they were expected to wear and "grow into"  these. High born samurai boys may have worn  a sword inside the house, the very highest, Daimyo or Shogun class, could have worn swords outdoors, but low born samurai boys would never presume to wear a sword before their gempuku. 

(Sensei doesn’t say when it began) Early on townsfolk would put displays in front of their homes at this time of year and these often included armour made of colorful paper, There was always a little back and forth between the townsmen and the Buke,so the Buke families then joined in but with displays of real armour. To answer this the townsfolk made dolls of historical figures like Takenouchi Sukane , Jimmu Tenno and Shoki. Shoki was a person who had passed the civil examinations in China, a great feat in ancient times and so a good role model for young boys. Then there is the legend that the Emperor Genso dreamed of Shoki one night and saw him subduing evil demons with his sword. So he is a doubly good symbol for this festival and his image was often included in these displays.

Now we often get rain in the “fifth “ month and this was ruinous to good armour so the displays were moved indoors and this is the real origin of the boy’s day display; rather than armour, the Buke began to display dolls in warrior dress with all their accouterments.

Today it seems that musha-ningyo are not so popular and that replica armour is taking their place. I believe it is because people don’t know the historical figures involved; Jimmu, Takenouchi, Shoki and Jingu Kogo. Since this history is not properly taught it falls out of favor and people buying display items tend to go for easy to understand symbols like a set of armour.

In April as you all know the department stores all begin showing the musha-ningyo and armour for the boy’s day display. Of course these are imitations but if you pay attention you will see that the designs change a little every year. Left-overs from the year before don’t sell so they change the design. What do they change first? Well they begin with the face and then the fukigaeshi and mon and so on...Some forty years ago I was invited to consult with the “Friends of Ningyo Society,” a group of doll makers and for years I would lecture them, alas to no avail.  No matter how much correct information I give them to this day I can see that no one is following my advice. It seems that every year they just make up their own designs without regard for historical accuracy.

Edo period dolls are today very rare, because they were made of paper and were often displayed outdoors. They are easily ruined by moisture and when the shellac on them cracks they look unattractive so are thrown away. If you do see them today they are quite expensive. Dolls today on the other hand are often machine-made to some extent, mass produced with sheet metal and those little design changes each year. Since people don’t know the meaning of these customs it seems they are putting on displays just because everyone else is without understanding why.

Have you ever seen a real kusudama? I have, when I was a little boy and it was hung by the entrance of the house!

Note: the kusudama is now a flashy paper ball that dumps confetti on dignitaries at a store opening or new years celebration in Japan.