Shichi-Go-San
15 November 2026 — I'm off to the shrine to be blessed with health and a long life!
Shichi-Go-San (“seven-five-three”) is a Japanese celebration of children's growth and health. Around 15 November, families take girls aged three and seven and boys aged three and five to a Shinto shrine to give thanks for their health and ask for protection in the years ahead. Children often wear traditional kimono, sometimes for the first time. The custom has roots in the Heian period and took roughly its present form in the Edo period. The festival's emblem is chitose ame (“thousand-year candy”), a long red-and-white candy in a bag decorated with cranes and tortoises, which are symbols of longevity in Japan, so it carries a wish for a long life. Before Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar, the dates followed the lunar calendar. A commonly given explanation is that the 15th day of a lunar month, when the Moon is full, was regarded as auspicious. Today the festival has a fixed Gregorian date and no longer follows the Moon's phases.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver star figure made of bright dots and fine lines, like a constellation drifting across the sky: a small child in a kimono with wide sleeves, walking in tiny steps and holding a long candy stick that glows softly in red and white points of light
Sources
Positions in Astronativa are astronomically exact. The interpretation is for inspiration. · Glossary · Terms · Privacy · Thank you