is a traditional
rite of passageA rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures....
and
festivalA festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
day in
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
for three- and seven-year-old
girlA girl is any female human from birth through childhood and adolescence to attainment of adulthood. The term may also be used to mean a young woman.-Etymology:...
s and three- and five-year-old
boyA boy is a young male human , as contrasted to its female counterpart, girl, or an adult male, a man.The term "boy" is primarily used to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions or both...
s, held annually on November 15. As
Shichi-Go-San is not a national holiday, it is generally observed on the nearest weekend.
History
Shichi-Go-San is said to have originated in the
Heian PeriodThe is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
amongst court nobles who would celebrate the passage of their children into middle childhood. The ages three, five and seven are consistent with East Asian
numerologyNumerology is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs...
, which claims that odd numbers are lucky. The practice was set to the fifteenth of the month during the
Kamakura PeriodThe is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
.
Over time, this tradition passed to the
samuraiis the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
class who added a number of rituals. Children—who up until the age of three were required by custom to have shaven heads—were allowed to grow out their hair. Boys of age five could wear
hakamaare a type of traditional Japanese clothing. They were originally worn only by men, but today they are worn by both sexes. Hakama are tied at the waist and fall approximately to the ankles. Hakama are worn over a kimono ....
for the first time, while girls of age seven replaced the simple cords they used to tie their
kimonoThe is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...
with the traditional
obiis a sash for traditional Japanese dress, keikogi worn for Japanese martial arts, and a part of kimono outfits.The obi for men's kimono is rather narrow, wide at most, but a woman's formal obi can be wide and more than long. Nowadays, a woman's wide and decorative obi does not keep the kimono...
. By the
Meiji PeriodThe , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
, the practice was adopted amongst commoners as well, and included the modern ritual of visiting a
shrineA Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house one or more Shinto kami....
to drive out
evilEvil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
spiritThe English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
s and wish for a long healthy life.
Current practice
The tradition has changed little since the
Meiji PeriodThe , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
. While the ritual regarding hair has been discarded, boys who are aged three or five and girls who are aged three or seven are still dressed in
kimonoThe is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...
—many for the first time—for visits to shrines. Three-year-old girls usually wear
hifu (a type of padded vest) with their kimono. Western-style formal wear is also worn by some children. A more modern practice is photography, and this day is well known as a day to take pictures of children. In some cases, families observe the rite based on the traditional way of counting one's age, or kazoedoshi, where you are one-year-old at birth and then add a year on each succeeding lunar new year.
Chitose Ame
, literally "thousand year candy", is given to children on
Shichi-Go-San.
Chitose Ame is long, thin, red and white candy, which symbolizes healthy growth and longevity. It is given in a bag with a
craneCranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...
and a
turtleTurtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
on it, which represent long life in
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Chitose Ame is wrapped in a thin, clear, and edible rice paper film that resembles plastic.