Each year in the lead up to Children's Day held on May 5th, you'll notice carp streamers, or koinobori, hung in various places across Japan. The streamers are said to symbolize strength and perseverance, since carp swim upstream - traits that most parents would wish upon their little ones.
In Gunma Prefecture's Tatebayashi City, approximately 60 kilometers north of Tokyo, an annual koinobori event sees several thousand of these carp streamers brightly coloring the region. There are several spots in the city where the streamers are hung, but the bulk of them fly above the Tsuruuda River.
