The first months of the year are my favorite in Okinawa because the flowers are blooming everywhere and if you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know flowers are my favorite. Towards the end of the spring the island is decorated with koinobori (carp streamers) to celebrate Children’s Day on May 5th. There are two extra special spots where hundreds of flags are flown, the Tengan River by Camp Courtney and the Hija River close to Kadena Air Base.
You can easily park on the side of the road and walk around this whole area anytime. They also host a small festival on the weekend of Golden Week with some little events.
I shared some photos of this same spot on the Tengan River back in 2015, but happy I took my camera again because wow my photography skills have grown!
^^ Besides the typical koi flags, the local elementary school kids decorate their own streamers ^^
The koinobori set consists of, from the top of the pole down, a pair of arrow-spoked wheels with a ball-shaped spinning vane, a colorful streamer that looks like a windsock. The black koinobori representing the father, the red koinobori represents the mother, and the other colors and sizes of carp represent the family’s children, both sons and daughters.
Have you stopped to photograph the koinobori?
Stay tuned for more photos of the Koinobori over the Hija River!
Tengan River
Gushikawa Loop Road, Tengan,
Uruma, Okinawa 904-2202, Japan
GPS: 26°23’10.0″N 127°51’30.2″E