Shichigosan

Last weekend when me and my Swedish friends who was here on vacation walked down Kyoto’s beautiful streets we walked right into a shrine. It was crowded with people, mostly young children. The girl’s was dressed in beautiful kimonos with dangling decorations and flowers. Some boy’s wore traditional Japanese clothes while some wore suits. It was hard for us to figure out what was going on but it looked like a big happening. The children stayed close to their families. Many of them took pictures, both with the child alone and together with different family members. Stalls closed to the shrine sold souvenirs and my friend Martin bought colorful candy and got it in a beautiful bag. This week when I discussed religion and tradition with my Japanese friends one of them mentioned Shichigosan. I think it’s quite fun that the first topic they mention had an explanation which matched perfect with my last weekends experience at the shrine in Kyoto. I went to the library and read about Shichigosan festival in the book Picorial encyclopedia of Japanese life and events written by Nakayama Kaneyoshi. The writer explains Shichigosan as a festival when boy’s and girl’s go to the shrine to give thanks for their good healthy growth so far and to pray for a safe and healthy future. Shichigosan literally means seven, five and tree and represent the children’s age and how old they are when they celebrate Shichigosan. In the article Shichigosan in The Japan Times the writer describes how parents ask the shrines to perform an “oharai” purification rite and ricite a “norito” Shinto prayer for their children’s good health. Stalls sell souvenirs such as good-luck talismans and it is customary after the visit to buy pink and white Chitose-ame ("thousand-year candy"). The festival is celebrated from October to November, the official day is November the 15. The boy’s and girl’s are dressed up in their finest formal clothing. The article Shichigosan in The Japan Times writes that now day most parents are renting instead of buying kimono to their children. The price varies depending on quality but a Shichigosan kimono set ranges from 19.800 – 98.000 yen for tree year old girls. I talked to my neighbor to find out more about Shichigosan and to let her describe her experiences and feelings about this tradition. She says that girls celebrate when they become tree and seven years and boys celebrate when they become tree and five. I ask her why they celebrate at this specific ages and she can’t remember exactly why. According to the article Shichigosan in The Japan Times Shichigosan is celebrated at tree years because the parents let their children’s hair grow to celebrate their growth. When boys turns five years they are allowed to wear their first “Hakama” pleated traditional trousers. When girls turned seven parents celebrate that their doughters went from using straps to secure their kimono to wear obi. My neighbor who is 19 years old tells me that the day she celebrated Shichigosan she went to the photo studio early in the morning, before that the hairdresser have styled her and her mother had helped her with her clothes. When she turned tree she wore her own kimono and when she turned seven they rented a kimono. She also tells me something new interesting that I couldn’t find in my secondary sources, that they also celebrate when they turn twenty to thanks for their healthy life and to pray for the future. Next year when she turns twenty she is going to wear her mothers kimono.

Colorful Chitose-ame ("thousand-year candy")