golden week

In Japan we are about to enter Golden Week, when four national holidays are concentrated in a period of seven days. The last of these holidays is Kodomo-no-hi (Children's Day, sometimes called Boy's Day) on May 5.

Traditionally the festival celebrates the healthy growth of boys --girls having been covered by the Hinamatsuri Festival on March 3, which is not a national holiday. It is celebrated with displays and food that symbolize strength, perseverance, and bravery. These symbols include ancient samurai helmets, the Japanese iris, kashiwa-mochi (sweet sticky rice wrapped in an oak leaf), chimaki (sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves), and most famously, koinobori (carp-shaped windsocks) that are traditionally flown from flagpoles set up next to the house for that purpose. 

These etegami are works-in-progress, but I'll try to post a few completed versions soon. In the meantime, you might like to do a search on this blog for earlier etegami inspired by Children's Day. (Use the "search this blog" box in the sidebar).

children's day once again

Kodomo no hi (Children's Day festival) is celebrated in Japan each year on May 5. There are many, many traditions associated with this holiday, the most popular probably being the colorful and picturesque koinobori (carp-shaped windsocks). These magnificent windsocks are flown from flag poles in backyards and fields, or ropes stretched across rivers, to symbolize the strength and bravery of carps swimming against the current.  I can't count how many versions of koinobori I have painted over the decades, and they continue to fascinate me as a subject for etegami.

This year, however, I recycled an old etegami I had painted of kashiwa mochi, a confection traditionally associated with this holiday. Kashiwa mochi are dumplings made of pounded rice, stuffed with sweet bean paste and wrapped in an oak leaf.  In Japan, oak trees are seen as a symbol of the prosperity of one’s descendants. The leaves are not edible, but they transfer a nice earthy fragrance to the mochi.

When I say I recycled one of my old etegami, I mean that I cut up this old, slightly faded etegami, then glued a part of it to a card I had cut out of a shopping bag from a famous traditional Japanese sweets shop. I had been saving the bag for just such a purpose.

The words, which I added with a white gel pen, translate roughly to "While my children go forth into the world and battle dragons, I will stay at home and eat kashiwa mochi." I tried, at one level, to express my pride in my children, and on another level, my relief in knowing that my part in preparing them for the world was mostly successful. I can relax now and enjoy my tea and dumplings.

class reunion (4)

You may remember that I had started a series of etegami depicting nostalgic scenes and items from Japan's Showa Period (1926–1989). Early Showa was a disturbing time of war and treachery, but by the time I was born, it was an optimistic age in which to grow up.

Former schoolmates of mine, from the international high school we all attended in Tokyo, have been getting together online to plan a major 70s decade reunion to take place in the United States this summer.

I can't attend, but I thought it would be nice to share in the spirit of the reunion by painting and posting etegami that evoke the feel of Japan in the 60s and 70s. That's what the earlier etegami in this series were all about. But I designed this particular etegami for the reunion itself. I'm hoping to print this image on small magnets or postcards, and ask for them to be handed out at the reunion as souvenirs.

The image is that of Koinobori, the carp-shaped windsocks that are flown from flagpoles or lines stretched across rivers and other open spaces to celebrate Kodomo no Hi (sometimes called Boy’s Day, but more often called Children’s Day), a festival held in Japan on May 5th. The carps represent the parents' desire for their children to grow up strong against adversity, like the legendary carp who swims against the current of the river and leaps up waterfalls to magically turn into a dragon. I’ve always thought the row of carps makes a wonderful image to represent people who are connected to each other. Like family or classmates.