The Chinese Kick Off the Summer with the Annual Dragon Boat Festival

For many of us the arrival of June means the arrival of summer and Father’s Day is just around the corner, but in China the coming of June also means the arrival of the Dragon Boat Festival. The annual festival occurs on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month according to the traditional Chinese calendar, which puts it at June 2nd this year. Over the years the holiday has acquired several names in addition to the Dragon Boat Festival, including (but not limited to) the Tuen Ng Festival, the Duanwu Festival, and the Double Fifth Festival. 

There are many traditions associated with the festival but the biggest one is found in the holiday’s name- dragon boat racing. Dragon boat racing is a team water sport rooted deeply in ancient folk rituals dating back over 2,000 years. Racing these boats began as a ceremonial and religious tradition but has since turned into a competitive sport. During competitions the boats are rigged with beautifully decorated Chinese dragon heads and tails, hence its name. 

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Dragons and the summer solstice are thought to be connected by the belief in a common energy. The moon is typically associated with a feminine energy while the sun represents a masculine energy. At the summer solstice the sun is considered to be at it’s strongest, thus having the strongest masculine energy at that time. Like the sun, the Chinese dragon is also considered to possess masculine energy. So the use of the Chinese dragon in combination with the summer solstice symbolizes the yearly peak of male energy. 

And of course no Chinese holiday is complete without eating and drinking. The traditional food consumed on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is zongzi, a Chinese dish made of rice, stuffed with various fillings, and then carefully wrapped in bamboo or reed. Then the zongzi is washed down with realgar wine. 

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Other fun and unique activities to celebrate the special day include hanging up icons of a mythical guardian named Zhong Kui, hanging mugwort and calamus, taking long walks, and a game of trying to make an egg stand at exactly noon- if your efforts are met with success you are thought to have a year of good luck ahead of you. Like many Chinese traditions, these activities are performed in regards to the ancient villager’s beliefs that they would ward off disease and promote good health and spiritual well-being. 

Japan's Golden Week Concludes with Children's Day

Japan’s exciting back-to-back national holiday celebrations, collectively known as Golden Week, comes to an end with Children’s Day on May 5th. Although it has only been designated a national public holiday since 1948, the holiday has been a huge part of Japanese culture and widely celebrated since ancient times, perhaps even all the way back to the reign of Empress Suiko in 593 A.D.! 

Traditionally, May 5th was known as Tango no Sekku and was dedicated to celebrating boys, while March 3rd was a festival for girls. It has since been changed so May 5th celebrates all children, both boys and girls.

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Children’s Day is the perfect way to end Golden Week because of all the fun traditions and celebrations associated with the holiday. Carp-shaped streamers fly outside of countless houses of families with children and inside dolls of famous warriors are displayed

throughout the home. It is traditional for children to take baths sprinkled with iris and roots, since it’s believed that iris promotes good health and roots ward off evil spirits. And of course no Chinese holiday is complete without a traditional food! On May 5th families prepare and eat kashiwamochi, or rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves and filled with sweet bean-paste.

In addition to the traditional decorations and foods, this holiday also brings many exciting events. Each event is purposed to honor children as well as highlight their talents, promote their health, and to have some fun! Kyogen, a type of comic theater, has been around for 600 years and remains an important aspect of Children’s Day. It is performed wearing traditional costumes with very distinct styles of acting. One year, at the Yokohama Noh Theater, a kyogen recital was held featuring 18 actors between the ages of seven and thirteen. The kids had attended practices one or twice a week since the previous summer to learn the unique comic expressions, movements, and uses of the fan. The theater was packed with eager parents, teachers, friends, and family members to witness the showing of the impressive skills their children had practiced for almost a year. 

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Learn About How Japan's Golden Week Celebrates All Things Green

Golden Week, the annual string of Japanese public holidays, continues to it’s third event with Greenery Day. Greenery Day, or Midori no Hi, is celebrated on May 4th, and staying true to its name, celebrates all things green! In Japanese, "midori" means green and "hi" means day.

The idea for the holiday came after the passing of Emperor Hirohito in January 1989. He was always a lover of nature and spreading environmental awareness was very important to him. He dedicated much of his time during his life to improving the environment, including opening the Imperial Biological Research Institute.

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Originally, Emperor Hirohito’s birthday (April 29th) was referred to as Midori no Hi, after his passing, but the government decided they wanted to continue to honor the Emperor’s birthday as well as Greenery Day. So in 2007, April 29th was once again Showa Day and Greenery Day was moved to May 4th. This way, Japan can honor all of Hirohito’s efforts and accomplishments while still celebrating all things green!

So how does Japan getting into the spirit of Greenery Day? 

In the spirit of Hirohito’s beliefs, the holiday is used to address current environmental issues. There are initiatives to clean up local areas including parks, beaches, and streets. So if you’re walking around Tokyo during this time, be prepared to see hundreds of people sweeping and picking up trash. But this holiday is much more than picking up trash. In addition to awareness, May 4th is also about cerebration. On this day Tokyo hosts dozens of events, such as planting trees, and people flock to the park with their families for some springtime fun. 

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Japan's Golden Week Welcomes their Second Holiday Known as Constitution Memorial Day

Next in line for Japan’s Annual Golden Week, a string of public holidays that takes place every April-May, is Constitution Memorial Day. Following the week’s opening holiday, Showa Day, Constitution Memorial Day takes place every May 3rd. 

Being one of the newer holidays, May 3rd was dubbed as Constitution Memorial day beginning in 1947, when the current Japanese constitution came into effect. Using the American and British constitutions as models, this constitution renounces war and declares that there are certain fundamental rights we have as human beings. It continues to declare the Emperor as the “symbol of the state and unity of the people.” 

As Showa Day was created to encourage reflection and honor of the Showa Emperor, this holiday asks the nation to reflect on democracy and the Japanese government. 

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The anniversary of the creation of the current constitution is celebrated each year through events, ceremonies and lectures. Thousands of people attend lectures to learn about the crucial role the constitution has played within their nation’s progress over the last 50 years. 

But what truly makes this day special is the opening of the National Diet Building. It is the only day of the entire year that this building is open to the public. Join the thousands of families that flock to the building to roam the normally-off-limits halls and take pictures out front.

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The Legend Behind Korea's Mysterious Jindo Sea Parting

Like with many Korean festivals and holidays, the Jindo Sea Festival is deeply set within their culture, tradition, and history. The fascinating celebration is loved for it’s magic and mystery but also for the centuries-old tale that lies behind it. Each year the East China Sea parts around the the southern tip of the Korean peninsula exposing a pathway wide enough for people to walk the 1.8 miles to get the the nearby island of Modo. 

A scientific explanation for this mysterious event is that natural phenomenon known as tidal harmonics, where the different tides sync up causing either extremely high, or in the case of the Jindo Sea parting, extremely low tides. However, ancient Korean legend has another explanation for the phenomenon. 

According to a centuries-old Korean tale, the parting all began with a man named Son Dong-ji near the end of the 15th century. The man was condemned to exile and sent from the mainland to Jeji Island, located a few hours south. During his journey from his home to the Island a storm swept through the Yellow Sea down Korea’s west coast- washing Son Dong-ji ashore of the village of Hoedong, which is now known as Jindo. 

There, Son lived a difficult life among the other villagers, fighting off the many tigers that inhabited the land. After years of suffering and witnessing many deaths due to the ferocious cats, the people had finally had enough and wished to vacate the island. So by raft the villagers fled to the island of Modo in search of a better life. Unfortunately, an elderly woman known as Grandma Bbong was accidentally left behind. Each day she prayed to the Dragon King of the Sea that should could be safely delivered to her family and not be deserted on this island. 

One day her prayers were finally answered when the Dragon King appeared to her in a dream, telling her that the following day a rainbow would appear in the sky and a pathway would be there to guide her across the dangerous ocean waters. The next afternoon, like the Dragon King had promised the waters parted and a crescent-shaped pathway appeared, connecting her to the island of Modo, where her family was waiting for her. Upon her arrival on the island, she died of exhaustion in her family’s arms and her last words were a prayer of thanks to the Dragon King for allowing her to be with her family one last time. 

In addition to the fun and celebration that takes place during the Jindo Sea Parting Festival, many rituals, performances, and dances are still held by the locals to honor Grandma Bbong and remember her tragic fate as well as her strength and determination.

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Each Year Half a Million Gather on Jindo Island to Witness the Korean Version of Moses' Miracle

Whether it revolves around the celebration of spring, exfoliating one’s self with mud, honoring ancestors, welcoming a new year or just being with family, Koreans love any excuse to eat, drink, and celebrate. But out of all the holidays and festivals there are a few in particular that stand out, one of those being the Jindo Sea Parting Festival. Nicknamed “Korea’s Moses Miracle”, the annual festival is as cool (and as literal) as it’s name suggests. 

Every year between the months of March and June the northern portion of the East China Sea around the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula opens up- revealing a 1.8 mile pathway connecting the peninsula to the nearby island of Modo. This natural phenomenon is caused by an event called tidal harmonics. Occasionally the harmonics will sync causing either extremely high or low tides. In the case of the Jindo Sea parting the tides become extremely low creating a ridge of land to appear. Although this actually occurs with the tides 2-3 times a year, there is only one festival to celebrate it- a four day period in April. For 60-90 minutes tourists and locals can gather to dig for clams or seaweed or simply take a walk along the magic-like pathway to the Modo island. 

Originally the celebration, then called the “Mysterious Sea Way”, remained a local secret until 1975 when French ambassador, Pierre Randi, visited Jindo Island and described the event in a French newspaper, bringing fame to the festival and calling it the “Korean version of Moses’ miracle.” 

Whether it is because of the mind blowing mystery or the centuries-old tales behind it- starting April 24th, around half a million domestic and foreign visitors gather on the small peninsula of Jindo to witness the spectacular event. 

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Golden Week Kicks Off April 29th by Honoring the Birthday of Emperor Hirohito

One of the most exciting weeks in Japan is right around the corner. Golden Week is a series of public holidays celebrated throughout Japan annually beginning April 29th. The festive week kicks of with Showa Day on the 29th.

The original purpose behind the creation of Showa Day was to honor and celebrate the birthday of the Showa Emperor, Hirohito, whose reign stretched from 1926 to 1989. After his death in 1989, April 29th was renamed Greenery day and became the holiday that marked the start of Golden Week. After much debate and effort on the part of many people, and following a series of failed legislative attempts, Greenery Day was moved to May 4th- a change that became official in 2000. It was not until 2007 that April 29th was once again Showa Day. The celebration of the emperor's birth was reinstated because the people felt Golden Week should open with a public reflection of Hirohito's reign and the accomplishments this time period was witness to. The turbulent 63-year period saw the end of Taisho Democracy, the rise of Fascism, World War II, the post-war occupation, the rise of Japan as an industrial economic power, and more.