Five festivals

Artist: Yoshu Chikanobu

Creation Date: 1894

Nationality: Japanese

Description/Notes: While Japan has many national and regional celebrations, five festivals / gosseku were given particular importance. Chikanobu presents them from right to left: the New Year Festival / Oshogatsu when special gifts are offered on footed trays of unpainted wood / sambo ; Boys’ Festival / Tango no sekku on the 5th day of the 5th month when young lads dress in armor and display appropriate figurines, such as the Demon Queller Shoki; Girls’ Festival / Hinamatsuri on the 3rd day of the 3rd month when girls display special dolls / hina depicting the imperial court; the Star Festival / Tanabata on the 7th day of the 7th month when poems are written on colored papers and hung on freshly cut bamboo stalks; and the Chrysanthemum Festival / Jugoya on the 9th day of the 9th month when a thick rice wine brewed with chrysanthemum flower petals / kikushu is served.