Although the tradition is to present carp kites only to boys on Children's Day, Kimiko's parents find a way to make the day special for her. The colorful illustrations show the enchantment of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.
I am half Japanese and have lived in Japan as well. I did not buy this book but found it at our local library. I do intend to buy it for two reasons-1) Kimiko is the middle name of our 3 1/2 yr old daughter. 2) It's an acurate part of her history. An above reviewer didn't like the tradional Japanese sterotyping. Well, it's not sterotyping if it still exits in millions of families. My family just visited my parents in Seattle the last weekend of April(My Mom is Japanese). We went to the Big Japanese store(I can't spell the name). They had lots of candy filled tubes with the carp draped on them. Our daughter really wanted them(finally gave in to prevent a major fit). All the Japanese people around (even young 30's moms like me) asked her if she was getting that for her brother(which she doesn't have). Even the cashier said "that's for boys-not girls" (she looked around 24). Moral of the story above is the first reviewer is totally wrong!! The idea of separate boys and girls day is alive and strong even with young Japanese americans living in Seattle Washington in the year 2006. Personally I always liked the separate gender holidays better.
A realistic look at life in Japan
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
Having lived in Japan, I enjoyed to authenticity of this book. The carp flags do indeed fly high on flagpoles during the Boy's Day (Children's Day) celebrations. This book give great cultural information about life in Japan.
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