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May 3Liked by Hiroko Yoda

At times of the year such as this I often wonder if there is any course of action that can be taken to help revitalize traditions such as this. It is such a shame to have so many wonderful traditions across Japan be “forgotten” (for lack of a better word).

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My sense is, the flying of koinobori is moving from individual to community, where towns fly them all together instead of at single households. I just saw this in a rural village I visited this weekend. So perhaps the tradition isn't disappearing so much as evolving. But I still miss seeing them flying at peoples' homes everywhere. I've actually started thinking that it would be nice to popularize flying koinobori even for those without kids. In the sense of wishing for good luck for children everywhere.

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May 6Liked by Hiroko Yoda

I never thought of this tradition as such, but you may be right! It's as if they're set up now (mainly) in designated areas! And yes, it would be great if anyone could display them!

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What an interesting history of koinobori! A friend gifted us a mini tabletop stand with three koinobori when my Japanese American wife was pregnant with our son, so unfortunately that's the only koinobori display we'll have here in the U.S. I wish we have the larger koinobori streamers that we can hang outside.

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Traditions are changing, but the sets of koinobori streamers are still widely sold here in Japan, so if you look around online you should be able to find them. I hope you can fly them in America!

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