| Show carp Is badge of authority for the boys in japan streamers old custom I 1 japanese youths recently celebrated the boys festival under the aegis ol of carp their badge of audacity The carp Is seen as the embodiment ol of manly virtues its boldness seen when it leaps a waterfall ter fall its unflinching resignation in the face of death is observed wh when it ii is laid on the carving board and touched with the flat of the knife it stops wriggling 11 in 2 every house where there is a boy the par parents ants attach atthe at the I 1 end of abong a long polo pole in the garden or to the root roof of the house a a balloon liki carp made of cotton or silk and blacks black yellow or red in color which the wind fills out making it swim in the air according to an authority one carp is hoisted tor for each son ion a large one I 1 perhaps 15 feet or more in length for the eldest others smaller and aid quite a tiny one if there is a baby boy in the family this custom of flying carp streamers began more than years ago as an expression of bf r rivalry I 1 v al on the part of the common folk against the armed classes who used to display outside their dwellings war streamers lances long handled scimitars and other arms the bur burghers whoa who could make no show of arms but were none the lesi conc concerned ernid for the welfare of their male children are said to have hit upon the idea of hoisting paper carp which it if not exactly awe inspiring could bi be made in any dimensions and therefore be more imposing than anything in ii the samurai ahmoi armory |
