Today is Girls’ Day in Japan and many girls will be celebrating it with their families.  I have written a post about the holiday in the past for PT.  This year I’d like to draw your attention to girls in other parts of the world, namely in Canada and Afghanistan.  Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan is an organization started in 2007 by a Canadian girl named Alaina Podmorow in British Columbia.  After hearing a stirring talk by writer and activist  Sally Armstrong about the plight of women in Afghanistan, Alaina started to fundraise by hosting a silent auction which raised enough money to support four teachers’ salaries in Afghanistan.  She then contacted the organization Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and joined with them under the name she chose for her group and hence was Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan born!   Check out their website for more details.

Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers by Gloria Whelan, illustrated by Yan Nascimbene (Sleeping Bear Press, 2008) is the story of a young girl from seventeenth century Japan who travels with her family in a palanquin to the imperial palace of Edo.  Little Yuki’s father is a samurai, and as such, must make the ritual visit to the shogun to pay his respects.  Yuki, however, is not excited by the prospect of this long  journey that will require the ‘thousand carriers’ to bear them and all their gifts and goods to the capital.   Yuki’s teacher suggests she write haikus on her journey about the things she experiences.

Yuki’s first haiku is wistful about her departure, but eventually she goes on to observe exciting things that keep her attention away from her homesickness like the trail of the thousand carriers and the appearance of blossoms in the rain and fishermen at sea.  The illustrations by Yan Nascimbene illustrate in a very Hiroshige-esque way the many sights Yuki witnesses.  One of the other illustrated delights of the book are the colorful kimono Yuki wears.

I enjoyed reading this book to my daughter.  In Japan, we traveled to sites like the castles, riverbanks and bridges that are depicted in the story.  We once even took a tour of an old inn, especially used for samurai lords and their entourages.  Reading Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers reminded us of that time.  My daughter also mentioned not understanding the word ‘palanquin’ until I explained to her how she had one as part of her Girls’ Day doll set.   Her eyes lit up in recognition when I mentioned it.   Little Yuki, of course, being a young female of the nobility, rode in the palanquin with her mother.

Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers is a good picture book to share with a young girl as a bedtime read. You can read our PaperTigers review of the book here.

Hinamatsuri Dolls

Today is Girls’ Day or Hinamatsuri in Japan.  And we’ll be celebrating it at our house by putting up our hina dolls and having festival foods.  As Japanese Canadians growing up in Alberta, we never celebrated Girls’ Day.  So why do I celebrate it now?  Two reasons –  because I have a daughter and feel it is important to transmit to her the customs of her heritage culture.  And because, it’s also just fun!

March 3 in Japan feels like spring and the peach blossoms that decorate the array of hina dolls displayed for the day make it feel all the more that way.  Here in wintry Canada, blossoms are still far off, but celebrating Girls’ Day here helps me anticipate the season.  Of course, we’ve made adjustments to the differences in climate.  Instead of the clam broth or chirashizushi that is traditionally served on Girls’ Day, I usually make a thick and hearty clam chowder that’s good for fending off a ‘liony’ March wind.  And I sometimes buy tulips for the table — the first flowers to appear in grocery stores around here that signal the coming season.

Have you ever celebrated a traditional festival day with your kids that you never celebrated growing up?  Do tell!