May 7, 2007

Dear JOI Students,

How was your Golden Week? With Golden Week in Japan wrapping up, the whole country is quickly getting back to work and school. As our final salute to Golden Week, we thought it'd be a good time to write a little more on one of the week's most important holidays, Children's Day, May 5.

Children's Day

Originally known as Tango no Sekku (端午の節句), the holiday is now known simply as Children's Day (こどもの日 kodomo-no hi), a day for parents to celebrate the health of their children (particularly boys) and for children to show gratitude to their parents.

If you wander around Japan this time of year, you'll be sure to see lots of brightly colored streamers fluttering from house and apartment balconies. Venture out to the countryside, and you'll be greeted by huge 鯉のぼり (koi-nobori), or carp streamers, hoisted up on 5-meter poles towering over garden walls. These streamers are the most prominent symbols of Tango no Sekku.

The streamers usually show the family crest and the current generation of boys' names.

But Children's Day symbols don't stop there. Take a tour of a department store, and you'll find elaborate decorations of samurai helmets 兜 (kabuto), bows and arrows 弓矢 yumiya, suits of armor, and figures of ancient or mythical warriors—some with astounding price tags attached. For families with one or more sons, these decorations are designed to be displayed in their home's 床の間 (tokonoma), a small alcove in the guest room or Japanese-style room (和室 washitsu).

The origins of all the day's traditions are varied and most probably developed from different roots and at different times. As with all histories that predate written records, there are several stories that claim credit for Tango no Sekku traditions.

Carp, Samurai, Folklore

Perhaps the most probable origin of Koi Nobori (carp streamers) is from nature. Farmers in the Japanese countryside would hang brightly colored banners and frightening masks of demons to ward off insects that had begun to emerge as winter cold gave way to spring warmth. The banners combined with an ancient Chinese story about carp that swam up a waterfall and turned into dragons, and presto: koi (carp) became Japanese symbols of perseverance. The scary masks became more and more elaborate and later took on images of great warriors. Later in history, the masks were adopted and moved indoors by various clans, who called upon the memory of past warriors among their ancestors to bless the younger members of the clan. Today, some families still proudly display in their tokonoma the sword of a samurai who belonged to their family ages past. For these families, Tango no Sekku is more than mere child's play, it is a deeply spiritual day reserved for the memory of warriors and the spirit of 勝負 (shoubu), striving for completion whether one wins or loses. It is often said that that spirit lives on in today's Japanese, who value putting forth all one's effort, seeing a task to completion, regardless of the final outcome.

Tokonoma in full regale for Tango no Sekku

Next time you happen across a carp streamer, or see an ornate tokonoma, or perhaps share in shobu-sake, you're participating in one of Japan's most important holidays—a celebration of the newest generation's perseverance, determination, and spirit.

Support Tips

	About the Alternate Rooms: Every JOI classroom has an alternate room, which is used in case of problems or maintenance with the original classroom. Occasionally during class, there may be a problem with the classroom servers. In this case, the teacher will instruct you to change to the alternate room. You can find the URL for each classroom's alternate room at the top of the text chat. If the teacher instructs you to change classes click on the URL, and go to the new room. Note: The alternate room URL is also shown on your Current Reservations page next to the classroom name. In other cases, your class time may coincide with the regular (but randomly timed) maintenance routine. During the maintenance routine, the classrooms are emptied with a message like: "This is room is about to be rebooted : You will be ejected from this room" Don't panic—just go to the Alternate Room. If you don't have enough time to click on the alternate room URL before being ejected, you can find the URL on your Current Reservations page next to the classroom name.
	Are you having problems hearing in the classroom? Have you checked that your headphone volume is turned up and that the jack is in the correct plug-in of your computer? For more info, please read this FAQ.
	Is your classroom exhibiting strange behavior (clicking noises, delays, and so on)? If McAfee anti-virus or other security software is installed on your computer, it may be interfering with the classroom software. Please read more here.
	The classroom software is not Unicode-compatible. To be able to type and see Japanese in the text chat area of the classroom, you need to install a simple utility application from Microsoft. For details, please check here.
	A hint to make sure you're heard in the classroom: After finishing what you have to say, keep the button pressed for just a second longer. If you release the button too soon, your last word or two gets clipped off.
	Don't be shy! Take a minute and add your comment to the Message Board. Other JOI students would definitely like to hear your take on Japanese culture and language.

Thanks, everyone, for helping make JOI a great online Japanese school! I hope you're having fun learning Japanese online. And don't forget about the lesson blog (login required)—take a look and post a comment in English or Japanese.

If you have other questions, be sure to check out the FAQs, or if you don't find an answer there, write me at support@japonin.com.

Regards,
 
Moses
JOI Support