May 5th is Boy’s Day, or Tango-no-Sekku in Japan. Colorful koi (carp) fabric streamers, some gigantic, are flown from house roofs and condominium verandas by families with young boys. I found these koinobori chofu at a wagashi shop in Nara the other day, I hadn’t seen anything like this before.

Usually fish shaped wagashi are ayugashi, or wakaayu, which I love and reviewed extensively in this article last summer. This koinobori chofu (more about chofu) is a clever riff on ayugashi, but is made for Boy’s Day, or officially known as Children’s Day now. The koinobori, rather than ayu sweetfish, is the inspiration for the shape. The filling is quite novel too, the gyuhi mochi filling is flavored with orange jam!

The package is great, it really looks like koinobori. The koinobori (see photos below) is basically a windsock, fish shaped, painted or printed to resemble a brightly color koi.

Koinobori Chofu

Why Koi (Carp) Shaped Streamers?
It is said that the koi, if butchered alive, or even cooked alive, does not panic and flip and flail about like the image of a fish out of water, or in hot sand, in Western culture. The koi stoically accepts the end with dignity and without panic. A koi on the cutting board or the hearth, it is still. Hey, when your number is up, your life is over — you are dead. Flailing around will not change things. So, it is much better to die a dignified death, in control rather than flipping out. This is related to the samurai ethic regarding bravery, honor and death. This behavior is what is considered ‘manly’ in Japan. (This is much more evolved than machismo, in my opinion.) Therefore, the koi is one of the important symbols for Boy’s Day.

Koinobori Chofu – detail

Koinobori Chofu

Koinobori Chofu

Koinobori Chofu – detail

Orange jam filling on the left and anko (azuki paste) on the right.

How did it taste?
This isn’t exactly gourmet wagashi but the yakikawa waffle was very tasty and quite mochi mochi (chewy). The orange jam flavored gyuhi filling was very good, the azuki filling in the other was average, nothing special.

Below are two images from last year’s Suetomi’s Boy’s Day/Koinobori article.

Koinobori

photo credit: teseb

Koinobori – detail

High quality koi-no-bori are still hand painted and quite expensive.
photo credit: qa™design

It is May and the most historic festival in all of Japan, the Aoi Matsuri is upon us. Iron Chef Defeater, Yoshimi Tanigawa of Kyoto’s famed Kichisen restaurant artfully uses the symbols and themes of the Aio Matsuri and seasonal leaves and ingredients for Kichisen’s May kaiseki menu.

Mr Tanigawa offered to let us do an article about his Kyoto kaiseki creations for the month of May which has both the Tango no Sekku (Boy’s Day/Festival) and Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival). Late spring verdant green, new leaves and seasonal sprouts, buds and fish abound. At Kichisen, flower arrangement and food meet in Mr Tanigawa’s natural and artistic culinary creations.

Sakizuke (Appetizer) with Seasonal Leaves and Iris

(click photos to enlarge)

Japan’s most historic festival, the Aoi Matsuri is to please the deities of the Kamo Shrines (Kamigamo and Shimogamo) and to avert famine and epidemics. For 15 centuries, people in Kyoto have put on this festival on. Kichisen borders Shimogamo Shrine and utilizes the shrine’s aoi (hollyhock) leaf in it’s logo. See photos at the end of this article to see the distinctive hollyhock plant and tiny, delicate flowers. (More about the Aio Matsuri on OpenKyoto coming soon.)

These are the first 5 courses (7 dishes) of the 12 course ‘May’ kaiseki meal.

Sakizuke (Appetizer) with Seasonal Leaves and Iris

The leaves: top two are aoi, then a whole iris and the bottoms leaves on the bottom layer are kashiwa oak leaves. Inside the kashiwa leaves are the appetizers.

The Oak Leaf Wrapped Appetizers
梅干しの天ぷら: Umeboshi Tempura (umeboshi is pickled plum)
賀茂茄子の田楽: Kamonasu Dengaku (Kamo Eggplant Miso Dengaku)
バイ貝と大根のうま煮: Baikai Daikon Umanin (Simmered Ivory Shell and Daikon)

Heian Chimaki and Uni and Yomogi (Mugwort) Tofu

Heian Era Chimaki
平安粽: Chimaki is usually a rice or sweet dish that has been wrapped in the leaf of the ‘sasa’ bamboo plant. At Kichisen, they continue to make chimaki the way it was made when Kyoto was founded 1200 years ago.

Wanmono: Yoshino Hamo Eel (Soup)

Hamo Eel
Hamo is synonymous with fresh fish in Kyoto as it was, historically the only fish from the sea that could be transported to Kyoto and still be alive when it arrived. Hamo is bony and requires a special ‘bone cutting’ technique in order to make it edible. This delicate soup is made with kuzu root (starch) from Yoshino in rural Nara prefecture. The green citrus is a very, very young yuzu.

The droplets of water on the lid are sprinkled on using a chasen, the whisk for making maccha in the tea ceremony.

Mukozuke: Tai, Ika, Kuruma Ebi Sashimi

Awabi (Abalone) Sushi

Soboku
Abalone season has just started in Japan. Traditionally, when fishermen collected them they would be tied up with straw. As Kichisen’s kaiseki retains a deep connection to the tea ceremony, this kind of natural simplicity is incorporated into the dishes. This is the kind of thing that makes Kichisen different from many other kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto.

Hassun: Various Fish Dishes

Hassun: Various Fish Dishes

Food Porn, the Kyoto Perspective
I asked Mr Tanigawa if I could photograph the other courses in this meal but he said that if you want to see them all you have to come to Kichisen for dinner. Interestingly, he said that if you show photos of everything, it cheapens it. Yes, that is a very ‘Kyoto’ approach — don’t show too much. (I am down on a lot of traditional Kyoto attitude, but I think I agree with his judgment on this point.)

Kichisen Restaurant

Kichisen Interior

Kichisen Gate

The plants on either side of the stone steps are aoi hollyhock.

note: The photos above are the property of Kichisen and may not be republished without permission (as often happens with my photos).

Aoi

Aoi Hollyhock

Aoi Hollyhock Flowers

Notice the tiny flowers under the leaves. This variety of hollyhock reminds me of strawberry plants far more than the hollyhocks that I used to grow back in Minnesota!

May 5th is Children’s Day in Japan. Two important icons for this day are the Koi-no-bori (flying carp banner) and the kabuto, or armored battle helmet worn by samurai. At Suetomi, we found some delightful and unique koi-no-bori and kabuto themed wagashi, traditional Japanese confections.

We stopped by Suetomi to get their Kodomo-no-hi namagashi set. Namagashi (生菓子) literally means raw, or wet ‘kashi‘, confection.

Traditionally Kodomo-no-hi was known as Boy’s Day (Tango-no-sekkyu) and Girl’s Day was on March 3rd (Hinamatsuri). In 1948, May 5th was designated a national holiday for the happiness of all children. The symbols of May 5th are still decidedly masculine and continue unchanged from the traditional Boy’s Day. The March 3rd Hinamatsuri symbols are also unchanged.

The armored helmet is symbolizes masculine strength and the flying koi banners health and vigor.

Suetomi creates a manju with the koi-no-bori branded on it and a namagashi in the shape of the kabuto helmet. Also, below is a mochi wrapped in kashiwa oak leaf.

The Package

Three Piece Set Served

From left to right; manju with koi-no-bori yaki-in (brand), kabuto shaped namagashi and kashiwa mochi.

Three Piece Set – detail

Kashiwa (Oak Leaf) Mochi

This popular mochi is wrapped in a fresh kashiwa oak leaf.

Kabuto Namagashi

The samurai’s kabuto helmet is beautifully rendered in soft, moist mochi. The dark form slightly visible inside is azuki paste.

Kabuto Namagashi

Koi-no-bori Yaki-in Manju

The Koi-no-bori is branded with a hot iron, called yaki-in in Japanese.

Taste
The taste of these three wagashi was excellent but the flavors themselves are not unique to the Boy’s Festival, just the shape and decoration. Kashiwa Mochi is a springtime wagashi, usually available in April and May. The taste of the mochi itself is conventional but the kashiwa leaf does impart a light and fresh flavor and fragrance.

Miniature Yoroi (armor) Display for Boy’s Day

Peko photographed this at Takashimaya Department Store a few months ago, this detailed and beautifully crafted display costs about $10,000USD!

Kabuto (Samurai Helmet)

photo credit: robizumi

Child and Miniature Kabuto Display

photo credit: egg on stilts

Koi-no-bori

photo credit: teseb

Koi-no-bori – detail

High quality koi-no-bori are still hand painted and quite expensive.
photo credit: qa™design

Children’s Day Google Logo