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IF THERE'S A BOY in the family under ten years old, Japanese houses add a new spark of color every year about the fifth of May. A large paper fish, a carp, brilliantly colored, flies from the roof of the house or from the top of a long pole set in the garden. This is the time of the Boys' Festival.

The wind fills the balloon-like, flying carp, and as it soars in the sky it appears to be a swimming fish. Usually a carp flies for each son in the family, and the older the boy, the larger the carp. The carp is a fitting symbol for the growing boy because it 
typifies surging power strength, and ambition.

The Boys' Festival is only one of the many festivals held in Japan. There are many, many others throughout the year, among them a Doll Festival for girls. On the third day of the third month, girls display in the best room of the house the exquisite ceremonial dolls that have been handed down from generation to generation.

Festivals are good times and happy times and no one is left out because there seems to be a certain time for honoring just about everything and everybody.
 
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