Shrines in Temples ?

In contemporary Japan there is a hard distinction between shrines and temples. Shrines are shinto, and temples are buddhist. This distinction came about when the government "seperated" the buddhas and the kamis in the late 19th Century.

In my opinion it was a bit like trying to unscramble eggs, as for most of Japanese history the religious practises were a hybrid of various local cults mixed in with buddhism, daoism, confucianism, and other influences from Korea and even India.

All these photos are from 2 buddhist temples in Miyoshi, Hiroshima. The top photos shows a small Inari shrine. The second photo is intriguing, anbd I haven't been able to find out anything about the figure, but the gohei (wand with paper streamer) indicates this is a shinto shrine.

As buddhism was adopted by the ruling families in central Japan they used it to extend their control over the whole of Japan. As buddhism became more commonplace, temples were built next to shinto shrines so that the buddhist priests could pray for the kami and lead them to enlightenment. Later, shrines were built inside the grounds of the temples and the kami used to protect the temples. The first record of this latter type of shrine-temple was here in Miyoshi.

Grand Toit (inside part 2)

The inside of Shimane Arts center in Masuda, known as Grand Toit, has always fascinated me each time I visit.

The floors and walls are of highly-polished wood, so that with the changes in light due to the passing of the seasons, the time of day, and the weather, create an everchanging display of reflections.

More inside Grand Toit

Outside Grand Toit

August harvest

This month the Kabocha are getting ripe. Introduced by the Portugese in the 16th Century from Cambodia, its is the commonest member of the squash family in Japan. My riverside garden has unused land on 3 sides, so I plant kabocha along the edges and let it spread into the waste land. Wild boars and monkeys like the young fruit, but neither go down to the riverside gardens.

Known as Tomorokoshi in Japanese, the yellow sweetcorn is the only kind of maize grown in Japan. My first year here I grew a crop of Navajo blue corn, and probably will return to it for next year. It was probably introduced in the late 18th Century. Roasted corn ears are a popular matsuri food. Japan is the world's largest importer of corn for animal feed.

Zuccini (or courgette) has given me problems for years. An orange bug has destroyed my crops each year. This year I grew the plants under net until the rainy season passed, and so far so good, I'm harvesting. You can find zuccini in the supermarket, but its not very common. No-one else in my village grows it.

And this is what it is all about!!!
Fresh, 100% organic ratatouille,.....garlic, onion, green pepper, zuccini. eggplant, and tomatoes..... everything except the olive oil came out of my garden!

Japanese Ogre / Demon mask

This is a fairly standard Oni mask in the Iwami Kagura tradition, though I did lengthen the beard a little and black out the teeth a la hanya mask.

Kagura Mask Index

Grand Toit (Inside.)

The Shimane Arts Center, known as "Grand Toit" was designed by Naito Hiroshi and opened in 2005. Located in Masuda, at the western end of Iwami, the building is built around a courtyard with a shallow reflecting pool. There is probably a correct architectural name for such a feature, but I don't know it.

Pictures of the outside of the building can be seen here

The reflections of the buildings tiles with the tiles under the water makes for some interesting effects.

At night a whole new universe of reflections comes alive!

Summer Matsuri 2

Yesterday I posted about the civic matsuri's that are going on right now throughout Japan. The other type of matsuri going on now are the matsuri's based on local shrines. These matsuri's can occur at any time of the year, but they tend to be either in the summer, or in the Fall. Countryside villages will have their matsuri's in the Fall, after the harvest has been completed. In the summer it tends to be coastal fishing villages or river villages, and often these matsuri will involve boats.

The video and photos show secenes from one of my favorite matsuri's, the one at Kuromatsu, a fishing village not far from Gotsu. The kami, Ichikishimahime, is fetched from an offshore island back to the village by a procession of boats.

I will be posting more on this matsuri as it is interesting and unusual in several ways.

Another common type of matsuri this time of year is Houranenya. Last weekend there was one down in Masuda, and 2 weeks ago one in Gotsu Honmachi. During Houranenya the kami is taken to boats and then paraded along the river.
I general I tend to prefer the village matsuri's over the civic matsuris. They are village-based and therefore more intimate. The food is locally made and much cheaper, and outsiders tend to be treated as guests.

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