Saturday, May
5th is Boy’s Day in Hawaii. In Japan they have combined the Boy’s Day and Girl’s
Day celebrations and honor both on May 5 as Children’s Day.
Families in
Hawaii (particularly those with a Japanese heritage) will hang Carp Banners outside their homes, each one representing a son in the family.
These banners are called Koi-Nobori.
As you would
suspect, the largest carp is at the top and honors the oldest son. The smallest
at the bottom honors the youngest son in the family.
Other items on
display in the homes might include swords, bows, arrows, and special Boy’s Day
dolls (like the dolls displayed during Girl’s Day) called Musha-Ningyo. These dolls are elaborate and represent warriors and legendary
heroes.
When I lived in
Hawaii my male friends celebrated girl’s day with us by bringing us guava cake.
I’m not sure what we did for the guys, but it must have been something REALLY,
REALLY SPECIAL since I can’t recall! Hey—I think girls deserve to be
spoiled, don’t you?
For more information
on the history of this celebration, please visit this site:
For more
information on the Boy’s Day dolls, click on this link:
Aloha, and Mahalo for visiting!
Cheryl
The Hawaiian Island Detective Club
Book One—Pineapples in Peril
RELEASES OCTOBER 1, 2012!!
Hahaaa, since I have 3 boys I guess I'd be pretty busy today. lol
ReplyDeleteYes, you would be, Jessica!
ReplyDeleteI'm behind in my blog reading--yikes! Thanks for your support and for the visit.
Aloha! --Cheryl
Cheryl.... cool post! I had no idea about any of that. Nice to know there are cultures in the world that take the time to honor their children :-) By the way, I've been meaning to tell you how doggoned happy I am for you with your publishing deal! That's so awesome and it couldn't have happened to a nicer person. I'm still waiting for my day in the sun--perhaps it will come, perhaps it won't--but knowing that wonderful folks like you with such great writing skills (and Christian to boot!!) are publishing books is enough :-)
ReplyDeleteMany blessings,
Deb
Awww, Deb, you are super sweet!
DeleteI really don't deserve all your wonderful comments. Thank you for sharing in my excitement and my fun times! This journey gets overwhelming at times, so having someone like you "in my corner" really helps.
Hugs, blessings and aloha! --Cheryl