Tango no sekku

Tango no Sekku (端午の節句), also known as Ayame no hi (Iris festival), originally referred to an annual ceremony held at the Japanese imperial court on May 5. It was one of the five annual court ceremonies called Gosekku. Since the Kamakura period (1185–1333), when the samurai class seized power, Tango no Sekku has become an event to ward off evil spirits for samurai boys. Japanese armour, kabuto (helmets) and Japanese swords were displayed in houses from the Kamakura period to the Muromachi period (1333–1573). From the Edo period (1603–1867), samurai dolls (武者人形, musha ningyo) were displayed in homes, koinobori (carp streamers) were hung in gardens. From this period, the custom of decorating houses with offerings on Tango no Sekku spread to the peasant and chōnin classes, and paper kabuto began to be displayed.^[1] Since the Showa era (1926–1989), miniatures of samurai armor have become more popular than samurai dolls.^[2]

Until recently, Tango no Sekku was known as Boys' Day (also known as Feast of Banners) while Girls' Day (Hinamatsuri) was celebrated on March 3. In 1948, the government decreed this day to be a national holiday to celebrate the happiness of all children and to express gratitude toward mothers. It was renamed Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day) and changed to include both boys and girls.

It is the Japanese equivalent of Double Fifth and was celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon in the Lunisolar calendar. After Japan switched to the Gregorian calendar, the date was moved to May 5 (the fifth day of the fifth solar month).^[3] Other festivals are celebrated on the same day in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan as the Duanwu Festival or Tuen Ng Festival (Cantonese), in Korea as the Dano Festival, and Vietnam as Tết Đoan Ngọ on the traditional lunar calendar date.