Visit Portland Japanese Garden to see the return of our beloved bonsai.
Kodomo no Hi, also called Children’s Day, is commemorated each year in Japan on May 5th to celebrate the growth and good fortune of children. Our festival will feature a range of family-friendly activities! Come listen to taiko performances, learn origami, and enjoy displays of koinobori, or cloth carp streamers.
Koi symbolize courage and determination as they swim upstream and through powerful waterfalls. Visit Portland Japanese Garden’s beloved koi fish at the Zig-Zag Bridge next to the Heavenly Falls in the Strolling Pond Garden. In Japan, koinobori, are flown outside of homes and public buildings create a festive atmosphere from April to early May. Portland Japanese Garden’s koinobori will be on display in the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation Courtyard and Jordan Schnitzer Japanese Arts Learning Center.
To plan your visit, please see the program below.
All day: Koinobori displays in the Cathy Rudd Cultural Corner and Tateuchi Courtyard.
| Time | Program |
|---|---|
| 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM | Origami workshop taught by Yuki Martin in the Yanai Family Classroom. Martin is the author of Super Cute Origami Kit: Kawaii Paper Projects You Can Decorate in Thousands of Ways! |
| 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM | Curious about Koi video viewings in the Cathy Rudd Cultural Corner |
| 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM | Koi experts will answer questions about koi by the Zig-Zag Bridge next to Heavenly Falls in the Strolling Pond Garden. |
| 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM | Explore the garden using the Scavenger Hunt map created in partnership with local artist and public joy creator, Mike Bennett. Copies can be picked up in the Tateuchi Courtyard. This activity goes through various garden locations. Don’t forget to collect a prize before leaving–they will be available to pick up near the entrance stairs in the Tateuchi Courtyard. |
| 10:45 AM | Taiko performance by enTaiko at the Pavilion’s East Veranda. We encourage guests to bring small blankets to place on the gravel to sit on during the en Taiko performances. |
| 11:45 AM | Taiko performance by enTaiko at the Pavilion’s East Veranda. We encourage guests to bring small blankets to place on the gravel to sit on during the en Taiko performances. |
| 1:15 PM | Taiko performance by enTaiko at the Pavilion’s East Veranda. We encourage guests to bring small blankets to place on the gravel to sit on during the en Taiko performances. |
Carp streamers are higher than the roof.
The biggest carp is the father.
The small carp are children.
Enjoying swimming in the sky.
– Lyrics to the Koi Nobori (carp streamer) song
Kodomo no Hi celebrates the growth and good fortune of children. The day was originally a celebration for boys called Tango no Sekku, meaning the fifth day of the fifth month. In 1948, the Japanese Government designated this day a national holiday named Children’s Day to honor both boys and girls.
In addition to koi, carp, samurai, irises, oak trees, and bamboo all symbolize strength. Families may also display replica kabuto (samurai helmets) or musha-ningyo (samurai dolls) in the tokonoma (alcove). Iris flowers are displayed in flower arrangements or enjoyed in a syobuyu (a bath with a bunch of floating iris leaves). Children eat kashiwa-mochi (a rice cake wrapped in an oak leaf) or chimaki (a dumpling made of sticky rice, wrapped in bamboo leaves, and tied with rush).
Portland Japanese Garden would like to thank James F. and Marion L. The Miller Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission, and Toshiba International Foundation for their support of arts and culture programming.
