Shichi-Go-San

Each age corresponds to an older ceremony. At three, children of both sexes celebrated kamioki, 'leaving the hair': until then the head was kept shaved for hygiene, and from now on the hair was allowed to grow. At five, boys underwent hakamagi, the first wearing of hakama trousers, marking their entry into boyhood; at the Heian court this was performed for both sexes. At seven, girls celebrated obitoki or obi-hajime, when the ties sewn onto children's kimono were replaced by a proper obi sash, the dress of an adult woman.

Seven was also a symbolic threshold: a saying held that until the age of seven a child was 'among the gods' (nanatsu made wa kami no uchi), not yet firmly anchored in this world. Traditional counting used kazoedoshi, in which a child is one year old at birth; today many families use actual age, some the traditional count, especially for girls of three.

The fifteenth day of the eleventh month was considered highly auspicious in the old calendar, and falling in the harvest month it was a time of thanksgiving to local deities. A frequently cited tradition links the date to a ceremony held in 1681 for Tokugawa Tokumatsu, son of the fifth shogun, Tsunayoshi, which the samurai class and then prosperous townspeople of Edo followed. The rites spread from Edo across the country during the Meiji and Taisho periods, and the name Shichi-Go-San became established in the modern era.

In practice families choose a convenient day: most visits fall on weekends and public holidays from late October to late November, and some go earlier to avoid crowds. In colder northern regions, including much of Hokkaido, the visit is often made a month earlier, in October.

Families usually visit the shrine of their home district or a larger shrine with a Shichi-Go-San tradition. They may simply pray at the main hall, as at any shrine visit, or request a formal prayer, the gokito, in which a priest reads a norito prayer for the child by name and performs a purification with the haraegushi wand. Children receive amulets, sweets and sometimes small gifts from the shrine.

Meiji Jingu in Tokyo is one of the busiest Shichi-Go-San shrines, but the celebration is equally common at small neighbourhood shrines. Some families visit Buddhist temples instead, and the day typically ends with a family meal.

Three-year-old girls typically wear a kimono with a padded sleeveless vest, the hifu, instead of a full obi; seven-year-olds wear a full kimono with an obi and small accessories such as a hakoseko purse. Boys wear a kimono with a crested haori jacket and striped hakama. Most families now rent the outfits, often together with hairdressing, dressing and a photo session at a studio; some take the photographs weeks earlier to avoid the rush. Western formal wear is also common.

Chitose ame, 'thousand-year candy', are long, thin sticks of red and white candy, sold in paper bags printed with cranes, tortoises and pine, all symbols of longevity. Their length expresses the wish for a long life. They are said to have been first sold in Edo's Asakusa district in the Genroku era around 1700.