Childrens Day in Japan and Koinobori Song

May 5 is Japans national holiday known as, Kodomo no hi Ã¥ ­ Ã¤ ¾â€ºÃ£  ®Ã¦â€" ¥ (Childrens day). It is a day to celebrate the health and happiness of children. Until 1948, it was called, Tango no Sekku (ç « ¯Ã¥ Ë†Ã£  ®Ã§ ¯â‚¬Ã¥  ¥), and only honored boys. Although this holiday became known as, Childrens Day, many Japanese still consider it a Boys Festival. On the other hand, Hinamatsuri (㠁 ²Ã£  ªÃ§ ¥ ­Ã£â€šÅ ), which falls on March 3rd, is a day to celebrate girls. Childrens Day Families with boys fly, Koinobori é ¯â€°Ã£  ®Ã£  ¼Ã£â€šÅ  (carp-shaped streamers), to express the hope that they will grow up healthy and strong. The carp is a symbol of strength, courage, and success. In a Chinese legend, a carp swam upstream to become a dragon. The Japanese proverb, Koi no takinobori (é ¯â€°Ã£  ®Ã¦ » Ã§â„¢ »Ã£â€šÅ , Kois waterfall climbing), means, to succeed vigorously in life. Warrior dolls and warrior helmets called, Gogatsu-ningyou, are also displayed in a boys house. Kashiwamochi is one of the traditional foods that are eaten on this day. It is a steamed rice cake with sweet beans inside and is wrapped in an oak leaf. Another traditional food is, chimaki, which is a dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves. On Childrens Day, there is a custom to take a shoubu-yu (a bath with floating shoubu leaves). Shoubu (è â€"è’ ²) is a type of iris. It has long leaves that resemble swords. Why the bath with shoubu? It is because shoubu is believed to promote good health and to ward off evil. It is also hung under the eaves of homes to drive away evil spirits. Shoubu (Ã¥ °Å¡Ã¦ ­ ¦) also means, materialism, warlike spirit, when using different kanji characters. Koinobori Song There is a childrens song called, Koinobori, that is often sung during this time of the year. Here are the lyrics in romaji and Japanese. Yane yori takai koinoboriOokii magoi wa otousanChiisai higoi wa kodomotachiOmoshirosouni oyoideru Ã¥ ±â€¹Ã¦   ¹Ã£â€šË†Ã£â€šÅ Ã© «ËœÃ£ â€ž é ¯â€°Ã£  ®Ã£  ¼Ã£â€šÅ Ã¥ ¤ §Ã£  Ã£ â€žÃ§Å"Ÿé ¯â€°Ã£  ¯ 㠁Šçˆ ¶Ã£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œÃ¥ ° Ã£ â€¢Ã£ â€žÃ§ ·â€¹Ã© ¯â€°Ã£  ¯ Ã¥ ­ Ã¤ ¾â€ºÃ© â€Ã©  ¢Ã§â„¢ ½Ã£  Ã£ â€ Ã£  « æ ³ ³Ã£ â€žÃ£  §Ã£â€šâ€¹ Vocabulary yane Ã¥ ±â€¹Ã¦   ¹ --- rooftakai é «ËœÃ£ â€ž --- highookii Ã¥ ¤ §Ã£  Ã£ â€ž --- bigotousan 㠁Šçˆ ¶Ã£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œ --- fatherchiisai Ã¥ ° Ã£ â€¢Ã£ â€ž --- smallkodomotachi Ã¥ ­ Ã¤ ¾â€ºÃ£ Å¸Ã£  ¡ --- childrenomoshiroi é  ¢Ã§â„¢ ½Ã£ â€ž --- enjoyableoyogu æ ³ ³Ã£   --- to swim Takai, ookii, chiisai and omoshiroi are I-adjectives. There is an important lesson to learn regarding terms used for Japanese family members. Different terms are used for family members depending on whether the person referred to is part of the speakers own family or not. Also, there are terms for directly addressing members of the speakers family. For example, lets look at the word father. When referring to someones father, otousan is used. When referring your own father, chichi is used. However, when addressing your father, otousan or papa is used. Anata no otousan wa se ga takai desu ne. 㠁‚㠁 ªÃ£ Å¸Ã£  ®Ã£ Å Ã§Ë† ¶Ã£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¯Ã¨Æ'Å'㠁Å'é «ËœÃ£ â€žÃ£  §Ã£ â„¢Ã£  ­Ã£â‚¬â€š--- Your father is tall, isnt he?Watashi no chichi wa takushii no untenshu desu. ç § Ã£  ®Ã§Ë† ¶Ã£  ¯Ã£â€š ¿Ã£â€š ¯Ã£â€š ·Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£  ®Ã© â€¹Ã¨ » ¢Ã¦â€°â€¹Ã£  §Ã£ â„¢Ã£â‚¬â€š--- My father is a taxi driver.Otousan, hayaku kite! 㠁Šçˆ ¶Ã£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£â‚¬ Ã¦â€" ©Ã£  Ã¦  ¥Ã£  ¦--- Dad, come quickly! Grammar Yori より is a particle and is used when comparing things. It translates into than. Kanada wa nihon yori samui desu. ã‚ «Ã£Æ'ŠãÆ'ۋ  ¯Ã¦â€" ¥Ã¦Å" ¬Ã£â€šË†Ã£â€šÅ Ã¥ ¯â€™Ã£ â€žÃ£  §Ã£ â„¢Ã£â‚¬â€š--- Canada is colder than Japan.Amerika wa nihon yori ookii desu. ã‚ ¢Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ' ªÃ£â€š «Ã£  ¯Ã¦â€" ¥Ã¦Å" ¬Ã£â€šË†Ã£â€šÅ Ã¥ ¤ §Ã£  Ã£ â€žÃ£  §Ã£ â„¢Ã£â‚¬â€š--- America is larger than Japan.Kanji wa hiragaba yori muzukashii desu. æ ¼ ¢Ã¥ ­â€"㠁 ¯Ã£  ²Ã£â€šâ€°Ã£ Å'㠁 ªÃ£â€šË†Ã£â€šÅ Ã©â€º £Ã£ â€"㠁„㠁 §Ã£ â„¢Ã£â‚¬â€š --- Kanji is more difficult than hiragana. In the song, Koinobori is the topic of the sentence (the order is changed because of the rhyme), therefore, koinobori wa yane yori takai desu é ¯â€°Ã£  ®Ã£  ¼Ã£â€šÅ Ã£  ¯Ã¥ ±â€¹Ã¦   ¹Ã£â€šË†Ã£â€šÅ Ã© «ËœÃ£ â€žÃ£  §Ã£ â„¢ is a common order for this sentence. It means the koinobori is higher than the roof. The suffix ~tachi is added to make the plural form of personal pronouns. For example: watashi-tachi, anata-tachi or boku-tachi. It can also be added to some other nouns, such as kodomo-tachi (children). ~sou ni is an adverb form of ~ sou da. ~ sou da means, it appears. Kare wa totemo genki sou desu. Ã¥ ½ ¼Ã£  ¯Ã£  ¨Ã£  ¦Ã£â€šâ€šÃ¥â€¦Æ'æ °â€"㠁 Ã£ â€ Ã£  §Ã£ â„¢Ã£â‚¬â€š--- He looks very healthy.Sore wa oishisouna ringo da. 㠁 Ã£â€šÅ'㠁 ¯Ã£ Å Ã£ â€žÃ£ â€"㠁 Ã£ â€ Ã£  ªÃ£â€šÅ Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£ â€Ã£   Ã£â‚¬â€š--- That is a delicious looking apple.Kanojo wa totemo shindosouni sokoni tatteita. Ã¥ ½ ¼Ã¥ ¥ ³Ã£  ¯Ã£  ¨Ã£  ¦Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£ â€"ん㠁 ©Ã£  Ã£ â€ Ã£  «Ã£  Ã£ â€œÃ£  «Ã§ «â€¹Ã£  £Ã£  ¦Ã£ â€žÃ£ Å¸Ã£â‚¬â€š--- She was standing there looking very tired.