What is the meaning of 七五三 in the sentence, 七五三のしゃしんです。

Question

I was looking at the following sentence under a picture that I unfortunately cannot provide:

七五三のしゃしんです。

I believe the sentence reads "It's a picture of 753"... which doesn't make sense.

I know that we have the numbers here 七 (7), 五 (5) and 三 (3). However, I don't believe numbers are structured like this in Japanese, as far as I know. Methinks this sentence is trying to say the number 753, but in Japanese, wouldn't that be instead written as 七百五十三?

Am I wrong, am I merely interpreting this incorrectly, or is there another problem I am overlooking? May someone please help me and correct me if I am wrong?

ありがとうございます。

Answer 1

Just to make a proper answer, 七五三 (read “shichi-go-san”, not “nana-go-San”) refers to a traditional Japanese festival and is used in the literal meaning “seven, five, three”. From Wikipedia:

Shichi-Go-San (七五三, lit. "Seven-Five-Three") is a traditional rite of passage and festival day in Japan for three- and seven-year-old girls and five-year-old (and less commonly three-year-old) boys, held annually on November 15 to celebrate the growth and well-being of young children.

At a guess, the sentence refers to someone’s photo from this festival.

By the way, it’s not the case here but long numbers written out positionally with Kanji for numbers (plus ○ for zero) without 千、百、十 etc. do happen in Japanese (e.g. in price lists) although they’re rare in spoken speech AFAIK.

Answer 2

Shichi-Go-San (七五三) is a traditional rite of passage and festival day in Japan, held annually on November 15, in which three- and seven-year-old girls and five-year-old (and less commonly three-year-old) boys, along with their parents, visit shrines to pray for their growth and well-being. As it is not a national holiday, it is generally observed on the nearest weekend.

It’s a tradition going back at least a thousand years to the Heian period, when nobles would celebrate their offspring’s transition from childhood to middle childhood.

Following the visit, parents generally buy Chitose-ame (千歳飴) for the children. The candy is shaped like a stick and comes in a bag that carries illustrations of cranes and turtles--two animals that are symbols of long life. Chitose literally means a thousand years and is used to denote very long periods of time. The candy and the bag are both expressions of parents' wish that their children lead long, prosperous lives.

The shichi-go-san ceremonies held to celebrate the child's growth are not always carried out anymore. Nowadays they are often replaced by just a visit to the shrine to express gratitude and pray for the child's future. Another modern trend is for parents to take the opportunity to have their child photographed in ceremonial finery, and send the photos out to friends and family.