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Chigo Gyoretsu is a colourful children’s procession that promotes wishes for kids' happiness and health. In Japanese, chigo means small child’and gyoretsu means procession - And so chigo-gyoretsu means exactly that – a procession of small children. At this festival, kids aged three to five dress up in orange and purple to wish for growth and health. Wearing matching costumes, the boys wear a stiff hat of lacquered gauze called an eboshi, while the girls wear a crown with a phoenix bird and bright metal pendants called a tenkan. Although this ceremony is typically performed at shinto shrines, it is increasing praticied at Buddhist temples in Japan. It is similar to 7-5-3 or Shichi Go San where kids of those ages are trotted out in their finest at the local shinto shrine on November 16. Since Chigo Gyorentsu usually is performed in September or October, it would be repetitative to perform similar rites at a shrine, which is probably why it is being celebrated at Buddhist temples.

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Quirky Japanese Festivals
Chigo Gyoretsu is a colourful children’s procession that promotes wishes for kids' happiness and health. In Japanese, chigo means small child’and gyoretsu means procession - And so chigo-gyoretsu means exactly that – a procession of small children. At this festival, kids aged three to five dress up in orange and purple to wish for growth and health. Wearing matching costumes, the boys wear a stiff hat of lacquered gauze called an eboshi, while the girls wear a crown with a phoenix bird and bright metal pendants called a tenkan. Although this ceremony is typically performed at shinto shrines, it is increasing praticied at Buddhist temples in Japan. It is similar to 7-5-3 or Shichi Go San where kids of those ages are trotted out in their finest at the local shinto shrine on November 16. Since Chigo Gyorentsu usually is performed in September or October, it would be repetitative to perform similar rites at a shrine, which is probably why it is being celebrated at Buddhist temples.