Japan has a tradition of Chinese festivals since ancient times. In Japan, the habit of the Dragon Boat Festival was introduced from China to Japan after the Heian period. From the Meiji era, all festivals were changed to Gregorian calendar days. The Dragon Boat Festival in Japan is May 5th of the Gregorian calendar. After the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival spread to Japan, they were absorbed and transformed into Japanese traditional culture. The Japanese do not row dragon boats on this day, but they also eat dumplings like the Chinese and hang calamus grass in front of the door. In 1948, the Dragon Boat Festival was officially designated as a statutory

 

Children's Day by the Japanese government and became one of Japan's five major festivals.

 

Essential items: Calamus, puppet, carp streamer, kite

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Calamus: Calamus not only plays a role in warding off evil spirits in Japan, its sword-like appearance is reminiscent of slaying monsters and demons, and its pronunciation in Japanese is the same as "Shangwu" and "wins and losses", and it is also a symbol of bravery. On this day, the Japanese will also drink calamus liquor and bath with calamus water. It is said that the aroma of calamus can drive away demons.

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May Puppet:
On Dragon Boat Festival, there are many decorative decorations called "May Decorations", which mainly have the meaning of exorcizing evil spirits and promoting martial arts, and also contain wishes for the health of the boys in the family. May decoration can be divided into interior decoration and exterior decoration. The interior decoration mainly includes May dolls. The costumes of the May Puppets are generally made according to historical or legendary combat costumes and are equipped with weapons. The shape is a cute child's appearance, so it is called a "child general". Some people will display the model armour at home that imitates the armour used by the generals.

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Carp streamer:
The carp streamer is composed of seven-colour flags and red and black "true carp" and "crimson carp". Red represents mother, black represents father, cyan represents boy, and the number of cyan flags represents the number of boys. The flag will flutter in the wind against the blue sky, indicating that the carp is jumping on the dragon gate.

Kite: The custom of kite flying is mainly popular in the west of Kanto in Japan to the central part of Japan. In the first Dragon Boat Festival after the birth of a baby boy in these areas, parents must fly a kite to wish their son a healthy and happy growth.

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Similarities:
On this day, China has the custom of inserting mugwort to ward off evil spirits, and Japan also has the theory of inserting calamus to ward off evil spirits.
China has the story of carp jumping the dragon gate, and Japan has the custom of hanging the carp flag.
 Difference:
The time is different: In China, the Dragon Boat Festival is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, and Japan is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.