Summer Matsuri

Summer matsuri season is in full swing right now. There are 2 types of matsuri held in the summer, civic, and Shinto. The civic matsuris', like this one in Hamada, have no religious component, and are mostly fairly modern in origin. It's a time for young girls to dress up in yukata and meet up with their friends.

There will usually be a stage where various forms of entertainment are on offer,... folk dancing, taiko drumming, kagura, after the mayor and other local "dignitaries" have given their speeches, of course!

There will always be the food stalls offering typical matsuri fare,.... overpriced and not particularly good....

And almost always the day will end with a firework display, with each town trying to outdo their neighbors in the number of firworks used.

Tomorrow I'll post about the other type of summer matsuri.

Miko

These three young Junior High Schoolgirls are Miko, or shrine maidens, and are taking part in the procession of the mikoshi at a matsuri. Before the procession they had performed Miko-mai, a sacred dance in the shrine.

These miko are volunteers, and just train for this performance. At many of the larger shrines that have full-time staff you may see older Miko, working in the shrine shop or office. Nowadays the only requirement to be a miko is being unmarried, though in earlier times it was necessary to be a virgin. Before that shrine miko were pre-pubescent girls who retired at the onset of puberty. In Izumo the tradition was different, and miko remained miko all their lives and passed on the function to their daughters. Nowadays many miko are daughters of priests.

Miko also assist the priests with ceremonial duties as in the photo below where a miko is performing Oharae, a purification ritual. There are a few female priests in Shinto, but not many.

Another type of miko no longer existing were the wives of Shugenja. The miko would go into a trance under the control of her yamabushi husband. Miki-san, the founder of the Tenrikyo religion was functioning as a stand-in miko when she began to have trance. Shamanesses and priestesses were probably the norm in ancient times before the influence of Buddhism.

Takahirayama Shrine, Miyoshi

When I go walking and exploring I usually follow a route that takes me from shrine to shrine. Sometimes, in remote areas, the maps are outdated and the shrines no longer exist. This shrine is close to the center of Miyoshi, and was abandoned. The torii had been taken down, the shintai removed from the hondens, but the buildings were still intact, though boarded up.

I checked on Google maps last night, and now these structures have been razed. I haven't been able to find out why. Sometimes shrines are moved to make way for construction of roads, tunnels, etc but this was not the case here. It was a fairly substantial shrine too, with several secondary shrines in the grounds.

Baby Monkey mask

This is not a very common kagura mask, in fact the only time I've seen it used in a performance is with our village's kagura group. One of the dances they perform every year at the all-night matsuri is Yorimasa, and part way into it the stage is suddenly invaded by a family of monkeys. The adult monkeys chase into the audience and grab unsuspecting young kids,... older kids have seen it before so they stay out of the monkeys' reach. The baby monkeys are played by 3 and 4 year old kids. It's they who wear this mask.

Most groups matsuri performances will include some form of pantomime or audience participation.

Around here kids start early with kagura. In a few places girls have started to take part, but mostly kagura is still for boys and men.

This mask is, of course, for sale at an unbelievably low price!!!!

Kagura Mask Index

Sugio Hachimangu, Ichiki.

The village of Ichiki lies on the upper reaches of the Yato River at the base of a mountain that has a small ski resort on it. The Hachiman shrine lies in the centre of the village.

There are a lot of smaller, secondary shrines within the grounds of the main shrine. There is a shrine to Konpira, a very popular kami that originally came from India, a Kannayago Shrine, the kami of metal-workers, the ever popular Inari, the god of harvests (and geisha!), and an Omoto Shrine, the local land-kami. Every 6 years Omoto Kagura is performed here.

100 years ago most, if not all, of these secondary shrines would have been scattered about in small local communities. That was the essence of the traditional religion, local, mostly nature-based gods. The government began a program that closed half of the shrines in the country. They didn't close any Hachiman shrines, as the God of War was an important national kami, and that was the point. The small local shrines were all moved into a central "national" shrine, where national rituals and national kami would become the focus of peoples attention.

On my walks around the backcountry of Japan I have been pleasantly surprised to see a few local shrines being re-established.

Tauebayashi (Rice-planting song & dance)

Yesterday was the Houranenya Matsuri in Gotsu Honmachi, the old town of Gotsu at the mouth of the Gonokawa.

Before the procession started a group from Kawahira, a village between Gotsu and my village, performed a folk dance, the Tauebayashi.

The gentleman with the cool hair-do was leading the dance. His mask appears to be a version of Hiotoko, but may be another character.

Both men and women performed the dance which accompanied rice-planting in earlier times. It's purpose was to strengthen the rice.

Sunset over Takashima

Living as I do in a narrow, steep valley, I rarely get to see the sunrise or sunset, so it was particularly exciting yesterday evening to watch the spectacular sunset over Takashima.

We were in Miho Misumi, about half-way between Hamada and Masuda. Takashima lies a couple of kilometres offshore. It is now uninhabited, but was inhabited until fairly recently.

Takashima should not be confused with Takeshima! Takeshima is the Japanese name for a group of rocks that lie much closer to Korea than Japan, and are controlled by Korea who call them Dokdo. Currently there is a diplomatic spat between the 2 countries as the Japanese Education Ministry has decided to teach Japanese children that Dokdo belongs to Japan. Japan claimed ownership in 1905 a short while before they annexed Korea and while the Korean Foreign Ministry was already controlled by Japan and therefore in no position to argue. Historically the Korean claim to the rocks is much stronger. Japan has territorial disputes with Korea, China, Taiwan, and Russia..... all of its neighbors!

Wakamiya Hachimangu Shrine, Miyoshi.

Miyoshi is a large town in the mountains of northern Hiroshima that lies upstream of my village in Shimane on the Gonokawa River. Three rural rail lines meet at Miyoshi, and this has led to its growth. Wakamiya Hachimangu is not far from the railway station.

Hachiman is the God of War, and there are more than 30,00 shrines to him throughout Japan. Hachiman was adopted by the samurai as their tutelary deity, and as the samurai ruled Japan, everywhere they were they built a Hachiman Shrine.

We were there in the first week of January, and so the shrine was decorated for Hatsunode, the first visit to a shrine of the year, a popular activity. Many shrines stay open on New Years Eve for the many visitors who come after midnight. The symbol on the purple banner in the photo above is the Triple Tomoe, the symbol of Hachiman.

For Hatsunode many shrines will display their Mikoshi, sacred palanquins, or portable shrines. They are used to carry the kami around the community during Matsuri.

Many shrines will have statues of horses in their grounds. This comes from a tradition started by an Emperor in ancient Kyoto who donated a horse to Kibune Shrine in return for prayers for rain. A gift of a white horse was made for prayers for good weather, and a black horse when rain was wanted. Over the years paintings and sculptures replaced expensive horses, and this eventually led to the creation of "ema", the small painted boards left at shrines with prayers and requests written on them.

Shiso

This plant is a volunteer in my garden every summer. Known sometimes as Beefsteak Plant in English, but also by its Japanese name of Shiso, it is a member of the mint family. There are 2 species of shiso, green, and red. Anyone who has had sashimi will know green shiso as its leaves are the bed on which the sashimi lays. It is also used in salads, cooked as tempura etc. Red Shiso, pictured above, is used to give umeboshi and pickled ginger its distinctive purple color. It also makes a fragrant, tasty lemonade.
Boil the leaves for about 5 minutes, strain, add sugar to taste and then let cool. Add citric acid (lemon juice) and store in the fridge.

Shimane Art Museum (inside)

Shimane Art Museum is located on the banks of Lake Shinji in Matsue City, Shimane. The sweeping curved ceiling is quite impressive, but other than that the interior is not particularly impressive.

There is of course art to look at :)

The view out of the window looking out over the lake is more impressive.

There is an Italian Cafe in the museum, and reflecting pillars there offer distorted views over the lake. The museum is a popular spot for watching the sunset and the museum stays open until 30 minutes after sunset.

Outside Shimane Museum of Art