To me, one of the best ways to foster tolerance is through Cross-Cultural Awareness. And at Mudpies and Butterflies anything Cultural is FUN. This Spring, we celebrate two Japanese holidays that honor and celebrate KIDS: Girl’s Day and Boy’s Day (also known nationally as Children’s Day in Japan). And if that wasn’t enough Japanese Culture, as it was our 3rd Thursday, our potluck was Japanese themed as well with Sushi, kelp salads, nori snacks and more.
Boys brought their own dolls and Action Figures too!
For our own ceremony, we all threw petals and other greenery at the dolls and action figures and chanted Happy and Prosperous words for our childrens' futures
Hintamasura – Girls Day is held in the early Spring on March 3rd. On this day families pray for their young girl’s growth and happiness. It is also called “Momo no sekku (Peach Festival) because it is the time that the snow white blossoms on the peach trees fall.
Most families with girls display “hina-ningyo” (special dolls for Hinamatsuri) and dedicate peach blossoms to them. These heirloom dolls are arranged on a tiered stand covered with a red carpet. The Emperor and Empress dolls are placed on the top alongside small dishes of food and other things. If you are fortunate to have more dolls, then the display continues with three court ladies (sannin-kanjo), followed by five musicians (gonin-bayashi), two ministers (udaijin and sadaijin), and three servants ending the bottom row.
In late Spring, May 5th is “Kodomo no hi” – Children’s Day, but this is also called Boys Festival. Children’s day is a national holiday, whereas girls day is more of a regional holiday.
Carp are another symbol of Children’s Day and Carp windsocks are usually put outside for each boy. Print out your own carp to color and turn into a kite. Cut around the dotted line and roll the kite into a tube, joining the short edges with a little glue or sticky tape. Attach streamers and tie with a ribbon to a pole. Carp represent strength , and success in life as they are known to swim up waterfalls (like our salmon). Instead of Empress and Emperor dolls boys display dolls of samurai and other heroes.
Making Newspaper Hats!
Picking out his own (red Mochi is for chasing away bad spirits)
Newspapers are our recyclable craft supply this week for hat making. Below center you can see hats that are fashioned out of newspapers with big red dots (as found in the center of the Japanese Nat’l flag). Each child and some parents (like me!) made one.
There are some special dishes for the festivals. I made a triple batch of “Hishimochi, ‘ diamond-shaped rice cakes made with sticky rice, sugar and potato flour. That makes them a VEGAN dish to be devoured by all. The three colors have valuable meanings: red is for chasing evil spirits away, white is for continuous purity, and green is for optimal health.
Green Mochi is for Good Health
Other common holiday treats that were not served at parkday but would be fun to try are “Chirashi-zushi,” “sakura-mochi (bean paste-filled rice cakes with cherry leaves),” “hina-arare (rice cake cubes)” and “shirozake (sweet white sake)”. The later not for all ages.
Here is a Hinamatsuri song called “Ureshii Hinamatsuri (Happy Hinamatsuri)!”
| Akari o tsukemashou bonbori ni |
| Ohana o agemashou momo no hana |
| Go-nin bayashi no fue taiko |
| Kyo wa tanoshii Hinamatsuri |
Let’s light the lanterns |
Let’s set peach flowers |
Five court musicians are playing flutes and drumsToday is Joyful Children’s Doll(Action Figure) Day |
We saved the Mochi (easy online recipe for Mochi) for after the Reading the Runaway Riceball a famous Japanese folktale written in both Japanese and English. Kerry had us all laughing and chanting story lines in Japanese! “Rolling, rolling Riceball!” = “Rōringu, rōringu Omusubi!” Bravo and Thank you Kerri-san!
Here’s a simple and fun way to go about making your own rice balls to take to the woods like the man in the fun folktale of the Rolling Rice Ball.
Our last craft station was Origami. Such a fun day. Try out your own paper folding techniques.