Kintaro (Japan's Legendary Golden Boy) Coloring Page

Kintaro, the famously sturdy boy of Japanese legend, is the hero behind this May doll coloring page for Boys' Day, a springtime festival that wishes strength and healthy growth on young sons. Give his skin a warm, ruddy pink glow and color his hatchet with firm, confident strokes, and he'll look every bit the tough little hero these festival dolls are meant to be.

About Kintaro

Kintaro is one of Japan's best-loved folk heroes, a superhumanly strong child said to have been raised alone in the mountains by a kindly ogress, wrestling bears and out-muscling wild animals as playmates rather than pets. As an adult, the legend continues, he took the name Sakata no Kintoki and became a samurai in service to the celebrated warrior Minamoto no Yorimitsu, fighting at his side as one of his four trusted retainers. Because his childhood strength and ruddy good health left such a lasting impression, Kintaro became the model of the sturdy, courageous boy that Japanese families still wish for their sons today.

This sheet shows Kintaro as he appears among the gogatsu ningyo, the "May dolls" that Japanese households display each spring for Tango no Sekku, or Boys' Day (folded into the modern Children's Day holiday on May 5th), alongside miniature samurai helmets and warrior figures. He is traditionally pictured with rosy, healthy-looking skin, so warm pinks and reds across his face and limbs bring out that same vigor here. His red apron-style bib, often marked with the character for "gold," reads best in a bold, saturated red, while the heavy hatchet he carries looks strongest in solid grey or silver with a warm brown handle. Keeping these few colors confident and even, rather than pale or patchy, is what gives this cheerful little figure his traditional larger-than-life presence.