If you are in Japan in mid-November, you might run into small kimono-clad children. In contrast to the suit-clad businessmen of the city, the little ones stand out like beautiful bursts of festive color—blue, green, pink, red, orange, white, gold and more.

  What's the occasion, you wonder? Why, it's Shichi-go-san! Literally meaning "seven, five, three," this festival celebrates Japan's seven, five and three year-olds and their growth into strong, healthy boys and girls.

  The festivities are held on November 15 or the nearest weekend—it is not a national holiday. Though more and more children wear Western-style outfits, most girls wear colorful kimono and the boys don traditional haori jackets and hakama trousers. After being honored and blessed in a shrine, accompanied by the proud parents and relatives from near and far, the children receive chitose candy or "thousand-year candy" in bags decorated with cranes and turtles, two traditional symbols of long life. For the children, receiving the foot-long candy sticks is, of course, the highlight of the day!

  In Japanese numerology, the numbers seven, five and three are considered very lucky. In old times, the three ages also marked key moments in life. At seven, girls got to wear their first real kimono belt, the obi, while at five, boys could wear their hakama trousers in public for the first time. Three was the age when young children could let their hair grow; before then, their heads were kept shaven. Originally limited to the upper classes, the festival spread to the commoners during the Edo Period (1603–1867).

  Although renting clothes and having pictures taken at a photo studio makes Shichi-go-san an expensive affair, it is a key celebration for families with small children. To the foreigner, it is a golden opportunity to witness centuries-old Japanese culture.