Is there a Dragon Boat Festival in Japan?

The fifth day of May in Japan is an important traditional festival, which is called "Dragon Boat Festival". This festival originated from the Dragon Boat Festival in China, and now it has become one of the important Japanese festivals. In Japan, this big festival is widely celebrated, and people will hold various activities and ceremonies to celebrate the fifth day of May.

According to historians, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the story of Qu Yuan in China. In Japan, Dragon Boat Festival originated in Heian period (794- 1 185). In this era, the Dragon Boat Festival is a festival for the court and nobles, and it is regarded as a celebration to pray for health and longevity. Later, the Japanese also began to celebrate this festival and exhibited their own Dragon Boat Festival traditions.

Traditional customs of Dragon Boat Festival

1, eat zongzi

It is said that "eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival" was formed in memory of Qu Yuan. In the Yuan Dynasty, Ma Zhiyuan said that "Qu Yuan's death was up to him, and he was drunk and sober". According to the Records of Scenery written by Zhou Chu, the prefect of Xinping in the Western Jin Dynasty, "Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival, cooking millet" in which "crossing toes" is the ancient name of zongzi. It can be seen that in the Jin Dynasty, zongzi became the festival food of the Dragon Boat Festival. The custom of making zongzi has continued to this day. In Liang Shiqiu's prose collection "Ya She Tan Chi", the Dragon Boat Festival is directly called "Zongzi Festival".

2. Dragon Boat Race

Legend has it that after Qu Yuan jumped into the Miluo River on the fifth day of May, the local people immediately rowed over to rescue him, and all the way to Dongting Lake, but Qu Yuan's body was not found. It was raining that day, and the boats on the lake gathered beside the pavilion on the shore. After others knew it, they all came in the rain and rowed to Dongting Lake. In order to express everyone's grief for Qu Yuan, it gradually developed into a dragon boat race.

Dragon boat racing is very common in the south of China, and it is also customary in cities near rivers and lakes in the north, and it is mostly carried out in the form of dragon boat rowing and dragon boat dancing.