What is meant by “santai zorai” offered for the May dolls?(sandaizoroi)
Children’s Day (national holiday; May 5th)Boy’s Day celebration (May 5th)
One of the tools used to accompany the May dolls. It is also called Sanpo-zukuri (three treasures). The set includes three items: an iris-brewed sake bottle (heishi, or sake container), an oak rice cake, and a piece of rice cake wrapped in bamboo dumpling (chimaki). Shobu-shu is made by soaking iris leaves in sake, which is believed to have the power to purge evil spirits. The leaves of the oak tree used to wrap the Kashiwa Mochi (oak cake) have the characteristic of not falling off the old leaves until new leaves sprout. Therefore, the new shoots were thought to be the offspring and the old leaves were thought to be the parents, and the food was eaten on Tango-no Sekku as a good luck food that would lead to “no successors” and “prosperity of offspring”. Zongzi is a sweet made by rolling rice cake with bamboo or thatch leaves. It is believed that the reason why it came to be eaten on Dragon Boat Festival is derived from a Chinese legend.
