Hanamatsuri (Buddha's Birthday in Japan) · Hanamatsuri

Culture of origin: Buddhist · Cultural

Holiday sources: Buddhism

Hanamatsuri, the Flower Festival (also Kanbutsu-e), is Japan's celebration of the Buddha's birth. Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1873, and most temples now keep the birthday on 8 April rather than on the lunar date. People pour ama-cha, a sweet tea made from hydrangea leaves, over small flower-decked statues of the Buddha, as if bathing a newborn; the bathing custom came from China and was first held in Nara in 606.