Shichi-Go-San (Celebration for Children of Three ,Five, and Seven Years Old)
A rite of passage to celebrate the growth of children aged 3, 5, and 7
On the 15th and other lucky days in November, children 3,5, and 7 years old wear traditional ceremonial clothes and make a visit to a tutelary deity or a large Shinto shrine in the community. This event is held to pray for the healthy development of the children at each point of their growth stages. In the past, it was held according to the traditional Japanese way of counting ages, but nowadays it is often held on the basis of the Western way. The origin of this event can be traced back to the ancient Japanese rites of passage known as “Kamioki”, “Hakamagi”, and “Obitoki”.
"Kamioki" is a ceremony in which 2-3 year-old infants begin to grow out their hair, which has been shaved after birth, and this ceremony represents the passage from infancy to childhood. In the Edo period (1603-1867), children wore a white head covering decorated with spearflowers and thin strings of dried abalone on this day. This head covering was called "gray hair", which implied the wish that the child would live a long life until his or her hair turned gray. "Hakamagi" is the ceremony of putting on a hakama (formal divided skirt) for the first time. Celebrating the growth of little children into boys and girls, it was held for children between the ages of 3 and 7 regardless of gender in the old days, although it has become an event just for 5-year-old boys since the Edo period. In the Heian period, it was considered a ritual of the aristocracy, and there is a description that Hikaru Genji had the
Hakamagi ceremony at the age of three in the chapter "Kiritsubo" of "The Tale of Genji". "Obitoki" is the ceremony of tying a sash on a kimono for the first time, instead of a kimono designed for children with strings attached. There are records of this ceremony being held in the Muromachi period (1336-1573), and it is believed to have originally been held for both 9-year-old boys and girls, but was later held for 5-year-old boys and 7-year-old girls instead. In the Edo period, it was customary for a girl dressed in a new kimono, obi, and traditional headdress to visit a shrine with her father or a hired laborer carrying her on his shoulder.
These ceremonies varied in age, gender, and date depending on the region, but from the mid-Edo period, they were often held on November 15, and became the original form of today's "Shichi-Go-San". The term "Shichi-Go-San" was coined during the Meiji period (1868-1912), and it was not until a period of rapid economic growth that the
present form became widespread throughout the country.
Related People, Things and Events
Books
Related Works
Shichi-Go-San Depicted in Paintings
Shichi-Go-San Pictures
Shichi-Go-San Outfits and Tools
Institutions Holding Related Materials
The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.
he National Museum of Ethnology, Japan (Minpaku) is the only research institute of cultural anthropology and ethnology in the world, that is equipped with one of the world’s largest museum facilities as well as post-graduate educational facilities.
- The Edo-Tokyo Museum collection includes materials pertaining to the history and culture of Edo and Tokyo, spanning 400 years from the Edo Period until the present day. - The museum’s materials range from ukiyo-e and other Japanese paintings to artifacts such as dyed textiles, lacquerware, and armor, and items related to daily life and folklore passed down by ordinary people. - Items are displayed in the museum's 9,000 m2 permanent exhibition space, and in special and planned exhibitions. - The public collection includes notable items and artworks by celebrated artists, such as “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” by Hiroshige Utagawa, and “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji,” by Hokusai Katsushika, as well as objects that convey the lifestyles of samurai and merchants in the Edo Period and items from the early days of Japanese science and technology. - Number of items in the collection: Approx. 370,000
国立国会図書館のミニ電子展示「本の万華鏡」。国立国会図書館の所蔵資料を掲載しながら、七五三の歴史を解説。
References
- 鈴木棠三 著,角川書店
- 福田アジオ, 菊池健策, 山崎祐子, 常光徹, 福原敏男 著,吉川弘文館
- 佐藤要人 監修,藤原千恵子 編,河出書房新社