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“Gogatsu doll” originated from Tango-no-Sekku |
| The society centered on the samurai (warrior)
had continued very long in Japan since the Kamakura Period.
Japan had been continuously at war at that time, and people
took great care of the armor and the helmet as the "Protector
to defend their body." Moreover, not only for the original
purpose of protecting them against the enemy at war but also
for the purpose of defending their family from misfortune,
the armor and the helmet was stored in the most important
place in their houses even when not wearing. |
| When the age has turned to a peaceful world
of the Edo Period, “Tango-no-Sekku” (The Boy’s
Festival) on May 5 was designated as an important ceremonial
day by the Edo Shogunate Government that had the highest
power at that time. The ornaments of “Tango-no-Sekku” of
the samurai society, until around the years of Genroku which
was the first term of the Edo Period (1688 - 1704), was mainly
decorated outside, and they celebrated by putting up in a
garden dolls and flags (streamers) made of paper and wood.
Afterwards, people gradually came to decorate the ornaments
of “Tango-no-Sekku” indoors, and doll warriors
as well as armors and helmets to be decorated indoors came
to be produced actively. And, a splendid decoration was given
to such armors and helmets to display the prosperity of their
household. |
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It was in those days that ordinary people came
to celebrate the growth of their sons” in the occasion
of “Tango-no-Sekku” by imitating the custom of
the samurai society, with parents hoping their sons to “Be
strong, giving their whole mind to the wishing of the parents, “Be
strong, brawny, and healthy.” Doll warriors came to
be grandly decorated in ordinary people's houses, and the
doll art had also been developed rapidly in connection to
the popularity among ordinary people. |
| Moreover, at that time, as ordinary people
were not permitted to hoist flags, they used ornaments in
the shape of a carp, which was the symbol of the success
in life, to resemble flags instead. And it was the start
of the custom of "carp streamers." The "carp
streamers" appeared in the scenery of Edo of “Tokaido
Goju-Santsugi (Fifty Three Post Stations of the Tokaido)” drawn
by Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige Utagawa (1797 – 1858),
a worldwide Ukiyoe (Japanese wood block prints) master who
had represented the Edo Period. Five colors in a "tubular
streamer" decorated on the top of the “carp streamers” symbolize
all things in the universe, and mean eternal stability. Moreover,
it was said that those five colors were vested with strong
power to get rid of evil, and therefore, a "tubular
streamer" of the five colors was installed to every "carp
streamer" without fail. |
“Tango-no-Sekku” is generally celebrated
by decorating the doll warriors, the helmet and the armor. “Gogatsu
doll” is the common name of the ornaments for “Tango-no-Sekku,” indicating
the ornaments such as the doll warriors, the helmet and the
armor.
The doll warriors are designed in the motif of the historical
events in China or Japan, or designed to look like the great
commanders and heroes in history or the heroes of folklores,
etc. Moreover, a lot of genuine helmets and armors of national
treasure class that old-time generals had dedicated still exist
in shrines and temples throughout Japan, and the helmets and
the armors to display at Tango-no-Sekku are produced by imitating
the genuine ones elaborately. And, a unique design is given
to each carp streamer or flag, and those ornaments gorgeously
color “Tango-no-Sekku.” |
| Tango-no-Sekku” on May 5 was given a
new name, “Children’s Day,” with a new
purpose that “the happiness of children should be promoted
by respecting the personality of children, and at the same
time, the gratitude to their mothers should be expressed” by
the national holidays law established in 1948 after World
War II, however, the day is still loved by many people as “Children's
Day.” Especially in families with boys, they congratulate
the day in a lively way, eating rice dumplings wrapped in
bamboo leaves or rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves and displaying
Gogatsu dolls as a lucky charm to defend their children from
accidents, illness and calamity with a strong hope of parents
for their children to grow up healthy and to be successful
in the world. As described above, Tango-no-Sekku” is
widely spread throughout Japan as a national event nowadays,
and Gogatsu dolls have been adapted to the life of Japanese
people as important traditional works of art even at the
present day for many Japanese people. |
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