okay, someone explain to me why cinco de mayo is more popular in the united states than in mexico, especially considering it does not commemorate mexican independence day, but la batalla de la puebla, when mexican forces defeated napoleon's army in 1862. how does this figure more prominently in american history than mexico's independence that it is considered a fairly noteworthy day of celebration? also, why is this "foreign" holiday more interesting than the national japanese holiday of kodomo no hi, children's day, which is also celebrated on the fifth of may? kodomo no hi celebrates the respect of children and of promoting their general welfare, along with gratitude towards parents for raising their children well, while i think for the american majority cinco de mayo promotes drinking and partying but not necessarily the respect of the mexican culture. come to think of it, does the united states even have a national holiday that is about the mutual respect of children and their parents?
anyway, i'm not particularly well-versed in the rituals of children's day, but i do like what it stands for, and i'm happy that there's a big enough japanese community on island to enjoy some of the festivities. if you have children or if you are lucky to still have your parents around, maybe you can honour the day in your own little way, in regards to them. and hopefully it will be reciprocated. i'm sure it will.
20050505
kodomo-no-hi
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8 comments:
5/05/2005 06:53:00 PM
There's an excuse of an exotic culture in which to celebrate repressed urges, in this case Fiesta! I don't think Anglo Saxon culture has ever come to grips with drinking and is constantly on the lookout for venues to legitimise it. Cinco de Mayo hits the spot. We have St Patrick's Day which is precisely the worst day to be out anywhere drinking Guiness. You also manage to cherry pick the fun bits without the associated cultural baggage. This is where the respect, the real respect, for a culture is jettisoned. The event is a celebration but it is not celebrated.
As for children's day I don't think it was that long ago that it was just boy's day. It seemed to represent some kind of son worship and usually stressed heroic or martial aspects. Maybe somebody can clarify if boy's day used to be holiday while girl's day wasn't.
It is Mother's Day this Sunday in Australia and will take your encouragement to heart.
5/05/2005 10:13:00 PM
boy's day used to be a national holiday and girl's day still isn't but i was under the impression that boy's day was changed to children's day to encompass all children instead of boys, with the hope that in time it would be a day for both sexes. kinda like lincoln and washington's birthdays were combined stateside and it's now just presidents' day. is that not happening? i imagine it's too soon to tell.
i still don't understand why cinco de mayo is the day of celebration over mexican independence day. is it because even back in the day, the merkans had it in for the french?
5/06/2005 05:48:00 AM
What anthony said. It's just a bastardized cultural excuse to party and drink a lot of margaritas, just like St. Patrick's is an excuse to get sloshed on green beer during the week.
5/06/2005 11:40:00 AM
Yes the impression that I have that it was changed too. Seemed a fairly glaring anomaly.
The Americans never know how good they had it with the French - help with the Revolution, cheap land and free statues. They seem enamoured with their old "ex" the British who have promised they'd be good this time.
There's no excuse for green beer.
Ever.
5/06/2005 09:58:00 PM
hey avatar--green beer, and drunk frat boys who want to feel up yer lucky charms, yeauuuch.
hey nth--absolutely no excuse.
5/07/2005 04:09:00 PM
Hi Santos,
Boys' Day was officially changed to Childrens' Day back in 1984. It was, and still is, an official holiday in Japan. I remember the change in name coming when I was in high school.
Whereas Childrens' Day is an actual holiday in Japan, Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival) is not. Hinamatsuri is also known as the Girls Festival and is celebrated on March 3. In Hawaii, we used to refer to it as Girls' Day.
5/08/2005 08:50:00 PM
Hi Santos - such lovely photos. I remember when I was small we had quite a big koi-nobori 'swimming' in our garden but it was so windy that the whole thing fell down! I was very scared.
5/08/2005 09:43:00 PM
hi reid! thanks for the info!
hey keiko--i can imagine that being scary. there are some neighbours with gigantic koi-nobori over their house, they are almost as long as the house!
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