Co-Designly Practice, (CDLY P) case study 7:

Japanese Children's Day May 5th:

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This anthropogenic, possibly post-human epoch feels like the end of an era. An era of accelerating achievement vertically racing

to mountainous peaks – dips, now cascading, tumbling, free-fall pitch into the unknown. So, each generation elicits the height of

the edifice/ gravity waterfall that the following generations must scale, in turn, and sequentially.

 

May 5th is Children’s Day (子供の日 (kodomo no hi) in Japan. It is a day to celebrate and wish for the health and wellbeing of all

children. This day is a national holiday in Japan and is important – because children are important. On Children’s Day, Koinobori

(cloth carp streamers) are flown on poles outside public buildings and people’s homes to bring luck and good wishes to the

children inside. Koi fish (or carp) are believed to be strong, spirited fish with their determination and resilience as they swim up-

stream and jump powerfully flowing waterfalls. Koinobori symbolises the desire for children to become brave and strong, feisty individuals. 

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“What does feisty mean?” (C., 7)

 

One particular legend is about the Koi fish. An ancient tale tells of a large school of golden Koi swimming upstream in the Yellow

River in China. Gaining strength by fighting against the current, the fish glint and flash as they swim together sinuous against the

fast-flow. Finally, they reach the end of the river and the downward plunging waterfall known as the Dragon’s Gate (龍門 or 竜門, ryuumon); many of the exhausted Koi turn back, the river flow carrying them away.

 

Refusing to give up, the remaining Koi knot and glisten in the tumultuous water. Then, leaping from the very depths of the river,

they flip from side-to-side, straining every sinew to reach the threshold top of the waterfall, unfortunately, to no avail. Their com-

motion catches the attention of local demons who sport and cruelly mock their efforts. In sheer malice, they hoist-up and heighten

the waterfall. After a hundred years of jumping, one single Koi finally reaches the top of the waterfall. The gods recognise the Koi

for its perseverance and determination, transforming it into a marvellous golden dragon, the symbol of power and strength. The

Chinese proverb "鯉魚跳龍門" (lǐyú tiào lóngmén) translates to "The carp has leapt through the Dragon's Gate." It signifies the ab-

ility of one to overcome adversity and obstacles to succeed. And as they rise in the sky, the koinobori streamers embody parents'

desire for their children to grow strong and successful.

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In the Edo period, the fish were black to resemble wild carp. Over time, in Meiji and then the Showa periods, bold, bright red and

blue colours appeared. Traditional koinobori displays are in sequential order; a large, black carp (真鯉, magoi): the patriarch father, followed by a smaller red carp (緋鯉, higoi), the mother, and lastly by a smaller blue carp, the eldest son. The younger siblings

(later) followed, (originally only sons), as smaller fish in bright colours of green, orange, and purple.

 

In English Comprehension, the children easily feel the plight of the Koi: the physical resistance and embodied strain of swimming upstream against the current and the intimidating height of the waterfall (their parents' and societal expectations).

 

"The school of fish is a school, just like our school". (J., 6)

 

“School is hard work like that”. (S., 6.)

 

In Creative Writing, we “co-designly” rework this legend; deciding to rewrite it. 

 

“So, in the end, they were all golden dragon”. (D., 6).  

 

"They all became one dragon?" I note that interestingly, Koi is the same in the singular as the plural, just like fish and fish. 

 

“Sunset golden” in the light; now sitting “in the sun on a throne” (A., 5) – of a millennia golden rays? 

 

“Like Godzilla with his tractor beams!”(S., 6) 

 

“Then, the dragon leans down and scoops up the flopping fish onto its dragon wings and flies a bit to help the [next generation

of] Koi jump and skip up the waterfall too!” (C., 5).

 

To celebrate Children’s Day on May 5th, we make china-blue ink fish prints with a huge fish from the local fishmongers. Most of

the children have never handled a fish before and delight in tentatively touching its silky, filmy scales, "little umbrella-like fins" and

fluted "silvery mermaid tail." They giggle, daring to prod its dead, open eye, (taking care to wash our hands after each fish print).

The following year, we design translucent, rice paper koi on string trailing with delicate, tissue paper waves and streamers. Class

3 ambitiously decide to make a massive Koinobori kite (painted across a single bedsheet). I sew it together in class and no

matter how fast we run, we bravely fail in our attempts at engineering the impossible fish flight into the sky. There is a chorus wail

of “Oooh-hhhh, it's tooooo big and heavy to fly!” (In analysis of “what went wrong”, we concluded that budget was an overriding

factor: not using lightweight (polyester) fabric, special (aerosol or silkscreen) paints, an air pump, and a crane! We also note we'd

need a Beaufort Scale, Wind [Force 6 (a strong breeze between 38-49km/hr)] to fly this kind of windsock without an air pump or

crane. A few weeks later, we try again on a windy day; the children run in tandem tightly-packed under the cloth fish attempting

to launch it with lots of shrieks and giggling into collapsing laughs.