Today is Children’s Day in Japan! These large carp streamers or Koi no Bori are hung outside to blow in the wind. Carp are supposed to symbolize strength, and the image of carp climbing up waterfalls is well known in Japan. Some parents display these streamers, and it also seems quite trendy to make cakes shaped like these fanciful fish. Have you celebrated Children’s Day before?
Its funny, I actually had a carp streamer in my room growing up. When my aunt lived in Hiroshima, she sent me a Hiroshima Carps Koi no bori. It may still be stashed in a box somewhere…