WHEN EAST MEETS WEST: Seven-Five-Three Day in Japan.

It takes place on the 15th of November each year,and it\’s common on this day for boys aged three and five and girls aged three and seven to visit Buddhist shrines or a Christian church often dressed in a kimono. Along time ago in Japan,the survival rate for children between infancy and adulthood was extremely low,and so it is said that this event started as a way to celebrate children reaching this stage in their development.

It is also common to eat \”chitoseame\”at Shichi-go-san.they are long thin candy sticks divided into red and white colors,and are put in a long made up bag with a printed design,such as pine,bamboo and plum blossom tree design,with also a crane and a tortoise color print,the bags,they are quite colorful.Chitose means a thousand years,candy stick gifts are a wish that the children will grow soundly and live a long healthy life.

Although some may wear western style clothing,most children will wear traditional Japanese clothing when visiting the shrine or churches.Therefore many families who have commemorative photos taken at a studio,as well as at the shrines and churches.The studio\’s are extremely busy at this time of the year.

Shichi-go-san originally included various rites of passage:

Three year-old boys and girls were permitted to begin growing their hair long;boys aged five begin wearing a hakama,a long pleated skirt-like garment worn below the waist;and seven-year-old girls were given an obi,a broad sash,instead of a rope,to tie their Komono.

Moreover,the ages of three, five and seven have come to be celebrated because odd numbers were considered auspicious in Japan.

Hank F. Miller Jr.

Warm Regards from Kitakyushu,City, Japan

Note: Hank is a former resident of Gloucester City NJ who now lives in Japan.