What are the customs and cultures of the Dragon Boat Festival in Japan?

Japan also has the Dragon Boat Festival. In Heian period (794- 1 192), the aristocrats first introduced the Dragon Boat Festival to China. Later, this festival was introduced to people. In the Edo period, the elements of Dragon Boat Festival have been everywhere in Japanese folk life.

The main customs of the Dragon Boat Festival in Japan include eating zongzi and cypress cakes. In some areas, Acorus calamus and Artemisia argyi are inserted on the eaves or placed on the roofs. Some areas drink calamus wine and bathe with calamus water. In traditional Japanese baths, during the Dragon Boat Festival, Acorus calamus is cut into sections and put into the pool. These are basically consistent with the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival in China. On May 5, Kagoshima, my mother went out with a little girl less than one year old on her back and danced a circle dance called "Girl Sacrifice" outside. Similar to the common custom of taking children back to grandma's house to hide during the Dragon Boat Festival in China.

There is a custom of dragon boat race in Okinawa, Japan, called "Harry". Nagasaki's "dragon climbing" activity is a race. They are all imported from China. Of course, like China, not all Japanese regattas are held on the Dragon Boat Festival. The date of the competition in Ma Dui and Shimane is not the Dragon Boat Festival, but the content is also one of the unique shrine sacrificial ceremonies in Japan, which is probably inherent in Japanese culture.

It is unique to hang carp flags and put samurai dolls on the Dragon Boat Festival in Japan. In Japan, Dragon Boat Festival is mainly a festival for boys, and March 3rd is Daughter's Day. So every Dragon Boat Festival, families with boys hang carp-shaped flags, and one boy hangs one side. From the number of carp flags, we can know how many boys there are in this family. There should be a corresponding number of samurai dolls at home, indicating that children can become samurai in the future. However, some Japanese scholars believe that primitive samurai dolls may be used to transfer pollution and disasters, that is, thrown into rivers and seas. This is consistent with the folk custom of "avoiding disaster" and "throwing disaster" in China.