Shichi Go San

Portland in November 2020 with a 7 year old.

Today (Nov 15) is a “Shichi Go San” day! Shichi-Go-San means number seven, five, and three in Japanese. These numbers stand for the ages of children. Shichi-go-san is a traditional Japanese event to celebrate children’s growth, specifically speaking it’s for 3 year old boys and girls, 5 year old boys and 7 year old girls.

Many families go to shrines or temples to pray for the healthy growth of their children. Aside from the shrine visit, taking photos in beautiful Japanese traditional clothing, Kimono or Hakama, and hosting a nice family dinner to celebrate the occasion are also common. Living in outside of Japan, I just went out to downtown with my son and took some pictures! He is 7 year old boy, but I do celebrate his healthy growth regardless of the traditional guidelines of Shichi go san :D

Japanese Cultural ‘Edutainment’ with music video about Shichi-Go-San is here:

今日は１１月１５日。七五三の日という事で、７歳の息子をポートランドのダウンタウンで写真撮影して子供の成長を再確認しました。英語で七五三を説明するビデオも作ったので見てください。