Japanese festivals

The Japanese Seijin No Hi-Coming of Age Day(January 8th)

Seijin No Hi is the first holiday of the year after New Year's is all over. It is for all the women who have just become legal adults(age 20), and most families buy a kimono(Japanese traditional costume) for their daughter. The typical kimono is 300-400 thousand yen each. On the day the young lady will typically go to a nearby Shinto Shrine and pray for health, success, money, etc. It's one of the few times you will see anyone wear a kimono-except for the grannies running around going to study or teach tea ceremony. The other occasions are graduation from a college, and once in a while at a wedding.

The Hina Matsuri-Doll festival( March 3rd)

Its origins go back to China which had the custom of making a doll for the transferral of bad luck and impurities from the person, and then putting the doll ina river and forever ridding oneself of them.March 3rd celebrated Girls; Day in Japan, and from mid to late February families with daughters put out the dolls with the hopes their daughters will grow happy and healthy. One superstition associated with this is that if they are late in putting away the dolls when the festivalis over, their daughters will become old maids. Most consist of just a prince( Odairi-sama) and a princess(Ohina-sama).

The Shichi Go San Matsuri( 7-5-3 Festival)

The Shichi Go San or 7-5-3 Festival is one of the uniquely Japanese festivals. Boys who are 3 and 5 years old, and girls who are 3 and 7 are taken to a Shinto shrine, often in their first kimono, and the parents pray for their continuing good health and prosperity. The numbers, especially 3 and 7, are lucky numbers in Japan, and until the 20th century Japan was a thoroughly feudal nation with a higher childhood mortality rates. A sweet candy called chitose-ame is also often bought for them, in a bag with cranes and turtles, 2 more symbols of long life.