Here in Japan, after the season of cherry blossom, we start seeing carp-shaped streamers “Koinobori” (meaning “rising carp”) flying everywhere to celebrate Children’s Day (May 5). This is the tradition dating back to the Edo period (1603–1867): People would fly carp streamers, painted on cloth, outside the house in the hope that their children will grow up healthy and strong.
Rumor has it that samurai (worrier)
families in the Edo period would order custom-made carp streamers, over 2-meter
long, when a boy was born.
That tradition has become much simpler now:
The streamers you see are much smaller, like paper carp made by kids at nursery
and tiny ones sold at dollar stores.
Meanwhile, we are also seeing another growing
trend recently: communities collecting used carp streamers from families, who
no longer fly them because their children have already grown up, and flying
them on a river or at a park.
Some communities fly over 200 carp streamers,
giving energy to people with or without children and attracting tourists as
well.
I didn’t mean to copy their things, but what
we started in my community is a carp streamer project to decorate the
neighborhood, such as local stores, facilities for older people, and
neighborhood bulletin boards.
It all started during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As people felt down and isolated, I began decorating the bulletin boards with carp
streamers.
Since my mother (aged 80+) and child (aged
9) had made over 10 carp streamers together over the years, we decided to move
them from the backyard to the front door facing the street, and asked my
neighbors to do the same.
What I aimed for wasn’t a huge festival. All
I wanted was for people, while walking on the street, to see carp streamers
flying here and there, enjoy the view, and start smiling.
It was such a small thing. But gradually, I
started seeing changes, giving me a sense of unity in the community. More
people would stop by the carp streamers in front of my house and enjoy chatting
there, an adult day care center started decorating its windows with carp made
by older service users, and a local store manager brought huge carp streamers
from his home and flew them at the storefront.
The pandemic is pretty much over now, but
we continue to put up the small carp streamers on the bulletin boards. Local
kids would smile as they find the carp, and their smiles then bring more smiles
to seniors who are behind these kids watching over them.
As I see these carp streamers loosely
bringing different generations together, I’ve come up with my own conclusion: “So
many programs are being created, stressing the importance of intergenerational bonding.
But the loose connection like this may be better….”
For example, I can’t forget the happy faces
of the adult day care users and staff when I told them, “On the way to school,
kids saw the carp you’ve made and put up on the day care center window. The
kids loved them and said they’re sooooo cute!”
Something small to make everyone smile,
something small everyone can do to be productive. If we can do more of
something like those, that will be wonderful, don’t you think? ^_^
Shino Sawaoka
Associate Professor,
Dept. of Health Management,
Tokai University
jzt1864@tokai.ac.jp
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