Showing posts with label Matsuri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matsuri. Show all posts

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Yodohime Shrine Shimenawa & Yamodo Festival

 


When I saw the shimenawa on the torii to Yodohime Shrine I knew it was unusual, but only when I did the research for this post did I realize its significance. The very small, local shrine lies at the border of Matsubara and Yamine, in the mountains north of Sasebo, Nagasaki. The shrine was established in the first years of the 11th century and enshrines Toyotamahime, the grandmother of the mythical first emperor Jimmu who features in the Hyuga Myth Cycle.


The Yamodo Matsuri takes place every new year, now set as the end of January, and culminates in the shimenawa being replaced with a new one, made by the parishioners out of rice straw from the previous harvest. Yamodo is derived from yama udo which means mountain man and refers to a kind of marebito, an idea of an outsider as a god from another world. In this case it refers to the Yamanokami that descends from the mountains in the Spring to become the Tanokami, god of the rice paddies, during the summer and then returns to the mountains after the harvest.


In the Yamodo festival 2 young men, one from each village, whose parents are still living and healthy, undergo various purifications and then act as the yama udo in various ways during the festival. The festival is now registered as an Intangible Cultural property of the prefecture.


There is a 23-minute video on the matsuri, in Japanese, on YouTube, if you are interested. The previous post was on Saifukuji Temple and its cave.


Saturday, August 12, 2023

Nagasaki Shinchi the Oldest Chinatown in Japan

 


By the 17th century there were Chinese settlements all over Kyushu engaged in trade. In 1635 the Japanese government restricted all trade to the single port of Nagasaki, and so the Chinese moved there.


It is thought that around one sixth of the population of Nagasaki were Chinese, but they were not confined like the Dutch traders on Dejima.


However, by the late 17th century the Shogunate became increasingly concerned about smuggling and so a walled and gated  compound called Tojin Yashiki was constructed and all Chinese confined there.


In 1859 the Japanese policy of national seclusion ended and Tojin Yashiki was demolished and many of the Chinese residents moved to the Shinchi area.


For two weeks after the Chinese New Year the Nagasaki lantern Festival is held is held at several sites across Nagasaki, including Shinchi.


I visited a few days after it had finished but floats and other evidence of the festival still remained.


I did not spend any time exploring Shinchi as I was far more interested in the nearby area of the former Tojin Yashiki. The previous post in this series was on Dejima, the Dutch settlement.


Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Hita Gion Matsuri Museum

Hita Gion Matsuri Museum

Hita Gion Matsuri Museum.

Hita, the historic town in the mountains of Oita, is one of many towns throughout Japan with their own Gion Matsuri, the festival that originated in Gion, Kyoto.

Hita Gion Matsuri Museum.

The festival takes place at the end of July, but for those who visit at other times there is a museum that displays the large festival floats throughout the year.

Exhibit.

Like many matsuri, the Gion Matsuri involves a series of floats, and they are called Yamaboko because of how tall they are.

Float.

Hita has six different yamaboko, each one pulled by a different district of the town, and they are 8 meters tall and very colorfully decorated.


As well as the floats the museum also displays other things from the festival culture,  like masks


I arrived at the museum just after it closed but a gentleman from city hall nagged the old lady in charge to let me in for my own private viewing.


Friday, February 5, 2021

Yatsushiro Myokensai

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I arrived at Yatsushiro Shrine in late November on the 44th day of my first walk around Kyushu. A few days earlier was the Yatsushiro Myokensai Festival which originates from the shrine. On display at the shrine are some of the "creatures" that are paraded during the festival.


It is one of the major festivals of Kyushu and one of the 33 festivals that are registered as intangible cultural assets with UNESCO. It features horses predominantly and of course mikoshi and such.


The most unique creature is perhaps the genbu which is kind of a cross between a turtle and a serpent. It is the daoist symbol for the north, and as this is a festival to Myoken, the Buddhist deity associated with the Pole Star and Big Dipper, it is not surprising.


If I had been here a few days earlier I could have seen the festival, but for sure I would not have been abe to get a room.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Kagoshima Jingu


After getting my hotel room in Hayato I set off the explore the local shrine, Kagoshima Jingu, and was delighted to discover that this evening was going to be the Summer Matsuri and the shrine approach was lined with stalls setting up and large lanterns decorated with chidrens painting hung everywhere.


The wooden horse at the entrance was far more decorative than any other shrine horse I had seen because this one is how a horse is decorated for the Hatsu Uma Festival when the horse leads a procession to the shrine. The festival is said to originate from a dream had by the regional Daimyo who had slept at the shrine.


There are a lot of secondary shrines throughout the extensive grounds as this was the Ichinomiya, the highest ranked shrine in the province of Osumi which today forms the eastern half of Kagoshima Prefecture. The main enshrined kami are Hoori and Toyotamahime, the grandparents of the mythical first emperor Jimmu and legend says it was founded at that time.


This is the southern Kyushu variation of the founding myth of Japan that more usually places the activity further north in the mountains of Miyazaki around Takachiho. The ceiling of the main hall is decorated with hundreds of paintings of regional plants.


Also enshrined here are Emperor Ojin and his mother Jingu, collectively enshrined as Hachiman. There are quite a few huge camphor trees in the grounds too....

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Pacifying the River Gods



Last week while across the river heading to pick up some firewood I was surprised to see some villagers from the little hamlet in a procession with a large Onusa heading to the riverbank. The next day, the 5th of May, both my village and the small town on the other bank would be having the Suijin Matsuri and would be doing the same thing, but this was the first time I had seen Ushiroyama doing it.


We all live on the banks of the Gonokawa River, the longest river in West Japan,  and like all river here it is prone to flooding and causing damage as well as drowning people. Its for this reason that the priest over in Kawado told me that the Suijin matsuri is the most important ceremony of the year. The end of the ceremony involves placing a large Onusa, most commonly referred to in English as a purification wand, attached to a long length of bamboo and hung over the river at several points to pacify Suijin, the river god.


This is a photo of the largest Onusa, from the biggest of the Suijin festivals held in Kawado. I did not attend this year as I was away but I have posted on it before, here, here, and here.


The biggest Onusa on our side of the river is this one, on a large sacred tree at the point on the river that used to be the main, and dangerous, crossing before the bridge was built. I have posted on the Tanijyugo Suijin Matsuri here and here. The small red arrow in the photo points to where the next photo was taken


As part of the Tanijyugo Suijin Matsuri a second Onusa is placed on the riverbank further downstream where my hamlet reached the river above the spot where legend has it a Kappa lives

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Autumn Matsuri 2014 part 2


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When we arrived at the shrine at 10:30 the Shioharae was in progress. This is usually the second dance of the night and purifies the dance area for the rest of the nights performances. It is a shinji, a ceremonial dance as opposed to a theatrical dance. There was a TV crew from Tokyo filming the visiting American "dancer" and I found the performance of the audience a little disconcerting.

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Next up was Yumi Hachiman, a 2 man dance featuring the hero Hachiman, the patron kami of the shrine, defeating a demon.

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It is a standard fighting dance where good triumphs over evil and featuring a spectacular smoke and firework entrance of the demon.

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Our local kagura troupe are really good. They are all amateurs, but their performances are always tight and professional. The next dance was Kakko-Kirime. The first part involves Kakko, somewhat of a fool, who steals a sacred drum from a shrine and attempts, unsuccessfully  to activate it. I like the dance because it allows the dancer to incorporate a lot of his own moves and sequences. In the second half of the dancer the kami Kirime descends and teaches kakko the correct way.

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I left then, past midnight. There was to be 6 more hours of dancing, but I was feeling out of sorts and I needed to be fresh for the final part of the matsuri, a series of ceremonies tomorrow morning followed by the carrying of the mikoshi.....

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Autumn Matsuri 2014 part 1


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Last weekend was my villages annual Autumn Matsuri. The rice has been harvested, time to kick back and party. Though our village, like many others, has shifted away from using the traditional lunar calendar to set the date, it has also, like many others, shifted the date of the matsuri to fall on a saturday, so that many people have tomorrow off.

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We arrived about 10:30, and things were in full swing because traditionally matsuris were all night affairs, and most villages in my area still continue with this tradition. There were fires to keep everyone outside the shrine warm, though it was still warm weather..... by 5 or 6 in the morning it will be cooler.

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There was plenty of food and drank available. Made by local people, not the itinerant vendors who are a feature of city festivals, and the food was for sale, not free. I prefer the smaller villages up in the mountains that still provide free food and drink.

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There were plenty of people milling around outside the shrine, but most were inside watching the kagura.....

Monday, May 5, 2014

An unexpected Matsuri


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On the afternoon of September 4th, 2011, I was approaching Byodo-ji, Temple 22 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, when I spied a torii with banners flying, a sign that a matsuri is underway.

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As I got closer I could hear the shouts of children which suggested that the matsuri was underway at the moment. For me, there is no greater pleasure than coming upon a matsuri, especially one in a rural village shrine.

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It was a Yasaka Shrine, a branch of the famous shrine in Kyoto formerly lnown as Gionsha. The main kami is Susano, and also many of his "family", which is kind of apt as he is known as the kami of storms and the last 2 days this area has been hit with a massive typhoon.

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There wasn't anything going on right now. Kids were running around and playing, and a small group of the village elders were inside eating and drinking. They invited me in for food and beer, and though daytime drinking in the heat of the day is not a usual habit of mine, as I was a pilgrim I could not refuse their offer.
After a second beer I insisted I had to leave and they showed me a path leading out of the shrine which was a shortcut over the hill to Byodo-ji

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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Gonokawa Matsuri Parade


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Last saturday was the Gonokawa Matsuri, the social event of the season in Gotsu. All the young females of the species were in their finest.....

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The parade consisted of a long line of various civic groups and clubs and companies each in their own style of outfit performing the "dance"..... very few people actually seeme dto be enjoying it....

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Kakinomoto Hitomaro, the famed 7th Century poet whose work is well represented in the Manyoshu. His wife, also a famous poet, was a local girl.....

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The one group that made a lot of noise and actually seemed to be enjoying themselves were the High School Rugby team.....

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And of course no parade would be complete without traditional Japanese hula dancers....