Japanese Birthday Culture DOMO!!

by Erik
(Sacramento, Ca, USA)

For my own culture we are very westernized, however, we still have retained some Japanese traditions to our birthday. For one, we celebrate our birthdays on the 1st of January.

While I don't know the history as to why we do it, it has been something we have done ever since I can remember.

We make it a point on this day to Thank God for another year of life, and ask of him one more year of prosperity, health, and wealth.

For the younger children, there is an ancient belief that certain birthdays are cursed ... these birthdays are the 3rd, 5th, and 7th birthdays. This is the case because, in the past, many Japanese children died around these ages due to lack of medicine and modernization.

The 3 5 7 tradition in Japanese is often referred to as the ShiChi-Go-Dan festival, or 7 5 3. It is a special moment, as the children who are of these ages go to the priest to receive a blessing.

Parents also celebrate, as their child has lived passed these cursed years.

We also mark every birthday with wearing of new clothes. This custom of birthdays is to start a new turn in life, or mark a new beginning. It shows also that we have outgrown our old clothes, both spiritually and physically.