In Japan the fifth day of the fifth month was traditionally called Tango no Sekku and was a festival for boys, today it is known as Children’s Day. On this day, families often sprinkle their baths with iris leaves and roots to promote good health and ward off evil. Rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves and filled with sweet adzuki bean paste, called kashiwamochi, are also eaten.
Families fly huge carp-shaped streamers (koinobori) outside their homes and display dolls of famous warriors and other heroes inside.
The carp was chosen because it symbolizes strength and success; according to a legend, a carp swam upstream to become a dragon.
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