Shichi Go San

Shichi-Go-San means Seven Five Three. Odd numbers are considered lucky numbers in Japan. Shichi-Go-San is a festival for girls who are three and seven years of age and boys who are three and five years of age. On November 15th or the closest weekend, children dress in their finest clothes and go to a shrine to ensure a future free of sickness and misfortune. Some children wear western-style clothes, while others wear traditional kimonos. Kimonos are beautiful colored robes made of cotton or silk. The children are given chitose-ame in a long white paper bag covered with symbols of luck and longevity such as the pine, bamboo, plum, crane, and tortoise. Chitose-ame is long thin candy colored red and white, and the name means thousand-year candy to signify many years of life.