When do we display the “Akumayumi” outside of Children’s Day? Explanation of its origin(HAMAYUMI/HAMAYUMI)
Children’s Day (national holiday; May 5th)New YearBoy’s Day celebration (May 5th)
It is given to a boy on his first New Year’s day, along with a “hakama-ya” to wish for his health and happiness. Later, they were also displayed on Dragon Boat Festival. The bow and arrow are believed to have the power to exorcise evil and ward off evil spirits, and in the olden days, people used to shoot at targets with the bow as a New Year’s event at court. The target was called “Hama” and the Chinese character “Hama” came to be applied to it. In the Kamakura period (1185-1333), people began to receive mock bows and arrows, or “baima-ya” and “baima-yumi” from shrines they visited to pray for good luck in battle. The custom of decorating them as amulets to ward off evil spirits on the first day of the New Year for boys was born, and gradually spread to the general public.
