A rice cake wrapped in Oak leaf & A cake wrapped in Bamboo leaves on Iris Festival
This festival, on May 5, now Children's Day, but once it was set aside for only boys. May is also the month when irises come out. Its long, narrow leaves resemble the sharp blede of a sword, and it has been the custom to place iris leaves in a boy's bath to give him the martial spirit.
Besides flying carp streamers, the parents who have a boy in their family display warrior dolls with a miniature suit of armor and helmet on a tiered stand on this day, praying for the healthy growth of their boys.
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/calendar/may/children.html