New logo on Google Japan

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New logo on Google Japan

Shichigosan

takagi

9:05 am on Nov 15, 2003 (gmt 0)

Today Google shows on www.google.co.jp a new logo to celebrate Shichigosan (7-5-3). Although November 15 is not a national holiday, most parents with children in the age of 3 (boys & girls), 5 (boys) and 7 (girls) will visit a shrine for this annual festival.

nvision

9:43 am on Nov 15, 2003 (gmt 0)

Nice to see Google "internationalising" its themed logo idea.

May I ask what the meaning is behind those specific numbers for that festivity, takagi?

bill

2:58 pm on Nov 15, 2003 (gmt 0)

Seven, five and three are considered to be lucky numbers. These are times in a child's life when it is believed they go through major changes physically and mentally. For instance it is when they pass from being an infant to childhood...back in the 19th century infant mortality rates were much higher. In effect they're marking the milestones in the kids development, but in another way just celebrating the fact that they've made it this far. People pray for the health of their children and give them chitose-ame (which could be translated longevity candy...chitose means 1000 years). Although this is now celebrated nationwide it seems to have originated around Tokyo.

takagi

10:59 am on Nov 16, 2003 (gmt 0)

It's now 19:57 on November 16th here in Japan, and the Shichigosan-logo is still there although it should have be shown only on November 15th Japanese time.

takagi

3:26 pm on Nov 16, 2003 (gmt 0)

It's already November 17th in Japan, and the special logo is still there. Looks like they forgot to remove it (or they like it so much that they want to show it to those users who only go to www.google.co.jp on weekdays).

bill

5:16 am on Nov 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

...it's gone now...

If I recall my history, Shichigosan was only a set day recently. I think it used to be a general time of the year and not a specific date. I saw folks walking around with their kimono clad kids on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

takagi

2:04 pm on Nov 17, 2003 (gmt 0)

I saw folks walking around with their kimono clad kids on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

Same here in Tokyo. Looks nice. One of my colleagues told me he and his wife visited a shrine with their son one or two weeks ago, to avoid the crowd. So the November 15th is not so strict. OTOH it is unusual for Google to display a special logo for more than 1 day.