Do you still tell your kids about Santa? (Or whatever your equivalent is)
Eh, good one :) (btw we don't, and I think the whole preschool parents will soon hate us but hey they're the ones lying!)
It's not clear to a western audience if this is closer to Noah's Ark or closer to Santa in terms of "how literally do people interpret this event".
My question, as I know very little of Japanese folklore, was whether this is more like the Easter bunny (just a game) or the second coming of Christ (something people actually build their lives around).
As much as any culture takes its system of beliefs and underlayment of culture seriously.
a little of column A, a little of column B. A lot of the stories are just stories, but the traditions borne of them are still culturally important.
I mean, most cultures will pretend to take this shit seriously then just ignore it and forget it ever happened.