Swimming In The Sky
I love these. Every year on May 5, families fly koi nobori outside their houses as a sort of prayer that their sons will become like the carp that climbed the waterfall to become a dragon. These fish flags always cheer me up, but this year for some reason the public displays are particularly exuberant!
If you’d like to see Tokyo Tower or go to Yoyogi Park the next time You’re in Tokyo, directions and maps are on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had.
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Jonelle Patrick View All
Writing mystery books set in Tokyo is mostly what I do, but I also blog about the odd stuff I see every day in Japan. I'm a graduate of Stanford University and the Sendagaya Japanese Institute in Tokyo, and a member of the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime. When I'm not in Tokyo, I live in San Francisco. I also host a travel site called The Tokyo Guide I Wish I'd Had, so if you're headed to Japan and want to check out the places I take my friends when they're in town, take a look!
I hope that SECRETLY their daughters climb the waterfall, behind everyone’s backs.
Heh, they did change the name of the May 5 holiday to “Children’s Day” from “Boys’ Day” but the customs are stubbornly still pretty boy-specific. Girls get their day on March 3, but the doll festival customs are rather short on wishing for warrior-like achievement.