WKD - Saijiki for Festivals and Ceremonies

Welcome !

2013-12-31T23:44:00.000-08:00

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Welcome to the Saijiki of
Japanese Festivals, Events and Ceremonies !

....Alphabetical index of this saijiki

. SPRING - SUMMER - AUTUMN . 　

. WINTER - NEW YEAR . 　

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- Festivals in each month -

. January - - - . February - - - . March - - - . April
. May - - - . June - - - . July - - - . August - - - . September
. October - - - . November - - - . December
. New Year

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Memorial Days of Famous People
Worldwide Saijiki

. Place names used in Haiku 　

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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.. .. .. .. .. .. .. General Items

ENTRY: Submit your Entry for a Kigo

KIGO – Its use in worldwide haiku

Seasons and Categories Learn the Basics of the World Kigo Concept

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Basic Haiku Theories

The World Kigo Database
Main Index

The Asian Lunar Calendar and Ceremonies

A lunar month started with no-moon, had the full moon on the 15th and 28 days to go.
The first lunar month of a year started the round of 12 months.
With the calendar reform in Japan, things changed, making the life of a haiku poet more difficult.

Please read the details here:

. The Asian Lunar Calendar and the
changing Dates of Japanese Ceremonies

. Omamori, O-mamori お守り Amulets and Talismans
INTRODUCTION

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. . . Kisai - special festivals

2013-12-30T23:48:00.000-08:00

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Kisai - special festivals

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

kisai 奇祭 may be translated in many ways

strange festival
weird festival
curious festival
unique festival
eccentric festival
festival with a bizarre or unusual ritual

often rendered as
tenka no kisai 天下の奇祭
a special festival "under the sky", in Japan.

. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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Many local festivals claim this name.
Many of the "Naked" and "Fire" festivals are counted among the very special ones.

Even in my area of Okayama we have "the last shaman of Japan".

. Gohoosai 護法祭　
at temple Ryosan-Ji, Ohaga, Misakicho Japan

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日本五奇祭
There are also five very special festivals:

洛北大原社の雑魚寝
. Oohara zakone 大原雑魚寝 (おおはらざこね)
sleeping together at Ohara 　

江州筑摩社の鍋被り祭 Kooshuu Chikuma shrine
Nabe kaburi matsuri
and
. nabe kamuri matsuri 鍋冠祭りの "wearing a cooking pot" 　
Tsukuma Festival 筑摩祭 (つくままつり)

越中鵜坂社の尻たたき祭 Etchuu Usakasha
shiri tataki matsuri
and
. shiritataki matsuri 尻たたき祭 "hitting the bottom"
at Iwakura town, Kyoto　

. 常陸鹿嶋社の常陸帯の神事
Hitachi obi no shinji 　
Hitachi Belt Ceremony at Kashima Shrine

奥州の錦木 Ooshuu no nishiki ?

. . . . . and these are also listed

Onbashira Matsuri 御柱祭（長野県諏訪市、諏訪大社）
Shrine Suwa Jinja Nagano
. Suwa no onbashira matsuri 諏訪の御柱祭
festival of the Suwa shrine pillars 　

Namahage なまはげ（秋田県男鹿市）Namahage demons
Akita, Oga Peninsula
. Namahage なまはげ　on December 31 　

Yoshida no hi no matsuri 吉田の火祭り
（山梨県富士吉田市、北口本宮冨士浅間神社）
Yamanashi
. Yoshida Fire Festival
(Yoshida himatsuri, Yoshida chinkasai) 　

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Some of the "fighting festivals" are quite special.

kenka matsuri 喧嘩祭り

. WKD : Fighting Festivals

. Fuchu Fighting Festival 府中喧嘩祭
. . . . . and
Gomottomo sama 「ごもっともさま」ritual for the male symbol
Mitsumine shrine

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Eyoo 会陽（裸祭り）（岡山県岡山市、西大寺）
Naked Festival, Temple Saidai-Ji Okayama
. Saidaiji Eyo Naked Festival 　
Saidaiji Hadaka Matsuri 西大寺裸祭り
shuusei-e 修正会

黒石寺蘇民祭（裸祭り）（岩手県奥州市、黒石寺）
Kuroishi Kokuseki Soominsai Naked Festival
Iwate. Sominsai
. Kuroishi Hadaka Matsuri. 黒石裸祭
Naked Festival at Kuroishi 　

吉良川の御田祭（高知県室戸市、御田八幡宮）
Kiragawa no Onta Matsuri "Field Festival at Kirakawa"
Kochi, Muroto Town
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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裸押合大祭（新潟県南魚沼市、普光寺毘沙門堂
Hadaka Oshiai Matsuri
Niigata, Fukooji, Bishamon Hall

quote
This is the festival, with a 1,200-year history, to pray for a good harvest for the year. Daimyo-Gyoretsu (a procession of a lord & samurai warriors) leaves Honmachi Maruyama-mae at 1:40 pm for the temple.
The highlight of this festival is Hadaka-oshiai in which about 500 young men only in loincloths purify themselves by pouring cold water over them, and then jostle one another for catching Kifuda (wooden tablets of prize coupons) in Bishamondo (hall) for several times between 7 pm and 11 pm.
source : www.jnto.go.jp

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悪態まつり（茨城県笠間市、愛宕神社）
Akutai Matsuri "cursing festival"
Kasama Town, Atago Jinja

quote
Cursing festival.
Also called akkō matsuri (bad-mouthing festivals),
At the akutai matsuri of Atago Jinja in Iwama-chō, Nishi Ibaragi-gun, Ibaragi prefecture held on December fourteenth (formerly, the fourteenth day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar), worshippers verbally abuse each other as they proceed to worship at Mt. Atago's mountaintop shrine. At the shrine they trade insults with a person impersonating a tengu (goblin of sorts that inhabits mountains). If one wins this exchange, it is believed that they will receive good fortune in the coming year.
Those who became angry as a result of these insults were told that their silkworm production would suffer in the new year.
source : Mogi Sakae 2006
Kokugakuin University.

. The Atago shrines of Japan .

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Shimada Obi Matsuri 島田帯祭（静岡県島田市）
Shizuoka
Belt Festival at Shimada

Every three years in mid-October, the Obi Matsuri (or Obi Festival) takes place in Shimada, Japan. The next Obi Festival is October 12 - 14, 2007.

quote
The Shimada Obi Festival dates back to 1695 when young brides traveled to Shimada and visited the town's Oi Shrine to pray for the birth of a healthy baby. Afterwards, while wearing their wedding obis (a sash) around their kimonos, they walked through Shimada and became a public attraction.

The young brides were shy about the attention and the town residents felt sorry for them. To protect their privacy but still display their obis, the residents created an affair similar to a fashion show at the Oi Shrine. Dancers displayed the obis on behalf of the brides and the event attracted parents of future brides and merchants.
source : www.suite101.com

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. Arai Handheld Fireworks
(Enshu Arai tezutsu hanabi) 遠州新居手筒花火　

. Doro-uchi matsuri 泥打祭 (どろうちまつり)
mud-throwing festival 　
Aso Shrine, Fukuoka. March 28

. Furukawa no okoshi daiko 古川の起し太鼓
"wake-up drums from Furukawa" 　
April 19 / 20. Hida Furukawa, Gifu

. Shiritsumi matsuri 尻摘祭 hip-bumping festival
November 10, Otonashi Shrine, Ito, Shizuoka　

. Suhotei Festival 数方庭祭 .
August, Shrine Iminomiya 忌宮神社, Yamaguchi

. Tenpitsu yaki 天筆焼き burning "wishes to heaven 　
"hitting with bamboo poles", take uchi 竹打ち
during the : Ota Fire Festival 太田の火まつり, Daisen, Akita

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Hodare matsuri 越後のほだれ祭 Hodare festival of Echigo

Hodare in English is "male genitals", but if the character HODARE are used, the meaning then becomes "the ripening of rice ears".

TBA

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HAIKU

大寒に神輿を担ぐ奇祭かな
daikan ni mikoshi o katusgu kisai kana

carrying the mikoshi
in the great cold -
this special festival

at Sosogi Coast, Wajima 曽々木海岸
Purification in sea water in January on the
day of the great cold (daikan)

The young men carrying the palanquin are only wearing a loincloth.

Toneokijime 刀祢沖〆
source : toneokijime.net

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Yoshida Shrine Kyoto

2012-02-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

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Yoshida Shrine (Yoshida Jinja)

***** Location: Kyoto
***** Season: see below
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Yoshida Shrine (吉田神社, Yoshida jinja)
is a Shinto shrine located in Sakyō-ku in Kyoto, Japan.
It was founded in 859 by the Fujiwara clan.

The shrine became the object of Imperial patronage during the early Heian period. In 965, Emperor Murakami ordered that Imperial messengers were sent to report important events to the guardian kami of Japan. These heihaku were initially presented to 16 shrines; and in 991, Emperor Ichijō added three more shrines to Murakami's list — including Yoshida.

From 1871 through 1946, the Yoshida Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-chūsha (官幣中社), meaning that it stood in the second rank of government supported shrines. Yoshida Kanetomo, founder of Yoshida Shinto, is buried here.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

More photos:
source :　kannnon.blog

The deity in residence is

Takemikatsuchi no mikado 健御賀豆知命

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observance kigo for the New Year

Yoshida kiyo harae 吉田清祓 (よしだきよはらえ)
purification ritual at Yoshida
Yoshida ooharai 吉田大祓（よしだおおはらい）
great purification ritual at Yoshida

onna setsubun 女節分（おんなせつぶん）
setsubun for women

From Fenbruary 2 to 4.On the 19th day of the first lunar month, the women got time to go for a special purification ritual.

京都市左京区吉田神社
"Yoshida san"　吉田さん is a friendly naming of the Kyoto people.

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. Setsubun Festival 節分 (February 3) .

The last day of the year (December 31, oomisoka) and the last day of the first half of the year (June 30, misoka) are specially celebrated with rituals of purification in the Shrines and Temples of Japan. The rituals of these two days are also called "Great Purification" ooharae 大祓.

. Summer Purification Rituals .

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. Fortune-telling Daruma だるまみくじ達磨御籤 .
from Yoshida Shrine - in a set for setsubun.

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Yearly Festivals List
source : yosida/nenkangyouji.htm

Amulet for trafic safety and a safe family.

Amulet for Setsubun

Homepage of the shrine:
京都市左京区吉田神楽岡町３０番地
source : yosida

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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quote
Yoshida Shintō 吉田神道.
Academic school of Shintō widely propogated from the late 16th century to the beginning of the Meiji Restoration (1868). Also known as
Gempon Sōgen Shintō 元本宗源神道 (Fundamental, Elemental Shintō),
Yuiitsu Shintō 唯一神道 (One-and-Only Shintō), and
Urabe Shintō卜部神道.
source : - Mark Schumacher -

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quote
Yoshida Shintō (Yoshida Shinto)

A body of Shinto theory and a tradition that played a central role in kami matters from the late Muromachi through the early-modern periods.
The school was founded by Yoshida Kanetomo 吉田兼倶(1435-1511), who called his tradition yuiitsu shintō ("only-one Shintō"), sōgen shintō ("original Shintō"), and genpon sōgen shintō ("fundamental and original Shintō"), but today it is commonly referred to as Yoshida Shintō or Urabe Shintō.

The Yoshida house was a branch of the Urabe clan, court specialists in tortoiseshell divination, which originated with Urabe Hiramaro (807-881) from Izu Province. His great-grandson Kanenobu was appointed vice-intendent (jingi daisuke) of the Department of Divinities (Jingikan), and afterwards the Urabe began to occupy this position on a hereditary basis. Subsequently, the Urabe clan split into the Yoshida and the Hirano branches; both specialized, in addition to traditional tortoiseshell divination, in the exposition of classics such as the Nihon shoki (Nihongi) and ancient ritual practices.

The Hirano house became particularly active during the Kamakura period with Kanebumi and Kanekata, and came to be called "the Nihongi house" (Taiheiki, fasc. 25). However, the Hirano began to decline in the period of North-South courts (ca. 1336-1392), and in its stead the Yoshida house came to the fore.

In the mid-Muromachi period, Kanehiro (1348-1402) was referred to with the honorary title of "elder of kami matters" (jindō no genrō ) (according to Yoshida-ke nichiji-ki); he received the support of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and was appointed to one of the highest court ranks. Kanetomo, four generations after Kanehiro, developed his own original Shintō doctrine based on the traditional teachings transmitted by his family over the centuries.

Yoshida Kanetomo was born in 1435 as the son of Kanena. In 1467 he was granted access to the imperial palace and was appointed assistant vice-intendent of the Jingikan (jingi gon-daisuke). That year, the Ōnin Disturbance began: the residence of the Yoshida family in the capital was destroyed by fire, and the following year the Yoshida Shrine (present-day Yoshida Jinja) was also burned down during a military operation. But it is likely that Kanetomo began to formulate his Shinto doctrines from around this time; they were first organized in his Sōgen Shintō seishi of 1470, and from the following year he began to perform a Shintō initiation ritual (shintō denju) for several aristocrats.

During this time, he built the Saijōsho　斎場所, a ceremonial hall at his residence and transmitted to the imperial court a petition from the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa. In 1473 he received authorization to collect a transit tax (called Banzatsu ichigei ichiyaku) to finance the Saijōsho; in the meantime, Kanetomo claimed that the hall would be in charge of the ritual celebrating Emperor Jinmu's establishment of Japan, and was thus the origin of all shrines in the realm. In 1473, Kanetomo likewise chanted a sacred scripture entitled Shinmei sangen godaiden jinmyōkyō, which is now believed to have been authored by him. At this point, his doctrinal system had already taken on a considerable degree of organization.

Moreover, beginning from about this time, Kanetomo became very active lecturing on Nakatomi no harae and Nihon shoki, and performing related initiation rituals; in this way, he gained a wide following among the aristocracy, the military, and the Buddhist clergy. In 1476 he even began referring to himself as "the head of Shintō" (Shintō chōjō). Thanks to the support of his followers, he was able to build the Daigengū ceremonial hall on the top of Mount Yoshida in 1484.

斎場所大元宮

Around this octagonal edifice he placed replicas of the two Grand Shrines of Ise, the Hall of the Eight Kami (Hasshinden), and other structures containing the more than one-thousand shrines listed in the Engishiki. This marked the completion of Yoshida's doctrinal and ritual Shinto system.

An outline of Kanetomo's doctrines can be found in his main work, the Yuiitsu shintō myōbō yōshū, which was probably written around this time. According to this text, the form of Shintō prevalent at the time was characterized by theories of an interrelationship between the "original essences" of sacred entities and their "manifest traces" as kami, (honjaku engi), and by combinatory practices based on the two fundamental mandalas of Shingon esoteric Buddhism (Ryōbu shūgō Shintō; see Ryōbu Shintō); in contrast, Yoshida Shintō claimed to be the original and fundamental form of Shinto (genpon sōgen Shintō), taking for its main deity Kunitokotachi no mikoto, the original and primordial kami (daigen sonshin).

The teachings of Kunitokotachi, transmitted exclusively to Tenshō Daijin and Ame no koyane, refer to the primordial condition of the cosmos before the distinction of yin and yang (onmyō fusoku no gengen) and before the generation of the first thought (ichinen mishō no honpon). These doctrines explain the original deity before the separation of the single universal material force (ikki mibun no genshin) and the subsequent process of manifestation of the sacred in this world (wakō dōjin no shinka). The Yoshida Shintō teachings are divided into exoteric and esoteric. The exoteric teachings (kenrokyō) are based on texts such as the Sendai kuji hongi, the Kojiki and the Nihon shoki; they discuss the separation of heaven and earth, the Divine Age, and the genealogies of sovereigns and subjects.

These teachings also include the worship of the deities of heaven and earth (tenjin chigi) and human spirits (jinki), as well as rituals of external purification. In contrast, the esoteric teachings (in'yūkyō, or on'yūkyō) are based on three scriptures, the Tengen jinpen jinmyōkyō, the Chigen jinzū jinmyōkyō, and the Jingen jinriki jinmyōkyō; these explain the spiritual force of the three entities (sansai no reiō), the three wondrous empowerments (sanmyō no kaji), and the three kinds of sacred treasures (sanshu no reihō); the practices they presuppose aim at internal purification. Furthermore, Shinto is divided into substance (tai), function (yū), and appearance (sō); from these, the following series of classifications arises: three principles (sangen, i.e., the previous three items), nine wondrous altars (kubu myōdan, i.e., the combination of the above three with the three elements heaven, man, and earth), and eighteen kinds of Shinto (jūhachi Shintō, i.e., a further, more detailed articulation of the previous nine meant to encompass all existing phenomena). These doctrines are all used to explicate Yoshida Shintō's fundamental principle that Shinto permeates the three entities (heaven, earth, and humans).

Kanetomo stressed the originality of the Shinto teachings of his house, and boasted that he "did not drink even one single drop of the three teachings" (namely, Buddhism, Confucianism, and conventional Shinto).

In reality, his doctrines included a combination of elements taken from esoteric Buddhism, Onmyōdō, and Taoist thought and religion. Kanetomo continued a tendency already present in Ise Shintō and Ryōbu Shintō, but he carried it out on a much larger scale than his predecessors, to the point of creating a comprehensive compilation of medieval Shintō doctrines through a combination of numerous religious and philosophical positions. This is also true of Yoshida rituals, such as Shintō goma, sōgen gyōji, jūhachi shintō gyōji (collectively known as sandan gyōji), and Hokuto-sai, Anchin-sai, and Tenku-sai, all of which are characterized by numerous elements taken from esoteric Buddhism and Onmyōdō. Finally, Kanetomo had the exclusive authority to confer to the title of kami on humans, and to establish rankings for kami, and also to appoint Shintō priests—authority he exercised by issuing special authorization certificates (Sōgen senshi, Shintōsai kyojō).
This authority facilitated the diffusion of Yoshida Shintō throughout Japan.

Yoshida Kanemigi 　吉田兼右　(1516-1573), who became head of the Yoshida house one generation after Kanetomo's death, began to spread Yoshida Shintō among minor shrine priests in the provinces by issuing many more authorization certificates than his predecessors, and by visiting regional shrines himself. His sons Yoshida Kanemi (1535-1610) and Bonshun (1553-1632) joined the entourages of Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Yokugawa Ieyasu, and tried to strengthen the position of their lineage.

Their efforts were rewarded later in the Edo period, when the Shosha negi kannushi hatto [Ordinances for shrine priests], issued in 1665, placed all shrines under the control of the Yoshida. However, the Edo period also saw the revival of Ise Shintō and the formation of Yoshikawa Shintō and Suika Shintō, and Hayashi Razan, Deguchi Nobuyoshi, Amano Sadakake, Usui Masatane and others began to criticize the Yoshida version of Shinto. In response to these developments and criticisms, the Yoshida house appointed the Suika scholar Matsuoka Yūen (1701-1783) as head of its academy in an effort to incorporate elements of Suika Shintō; apologetic texts such as the Nihon jingi seitōki and the Shingyō ruiyō were also published to rebut criticism.

Yoshida Shintō could not, however, avoid being excluded from the newly arising Shintō trends central to the period; in addition, from the mid-Edo period onwards frequent disputes were encountered with the Shirakawa Jingi Hakke house concerning the control over Shinto shrines. The Yoshida nonetheless preserved their authority throughout the early-modern period until the traditional system of shrine supervision was abolished by the Meiji government in 1868.
source : Ito Satoshi, Kokugakuin, 2006

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Tamakae exchanging balls

2012-01-15T17:24:00.000-08:00

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Ritual of exchanging balls (tamakae shinji)

***** Location: Fukuoka
***** Season: New Year
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

tamakae matsuri, tamakae sai 玉替祭 (たまかえまつり)
festival of exchanging balls
tamakae shinji 玉替神事（たまかえしんじ）
ritual of exchanging balls

At the shrine Koora Taisha 高良大社 Kora Taisha
in Kurume, Fukuoka.　久留米福岡

In modern times, people may also buy a lucky lot (o-mikuji 御籖)
to test their good luck for the new year.

You can see the gold and silver auspicious tama balls.

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quote
The Tamakae shinji (Ball-exchanging ritual)
takes place on the evening of January 15 at Kōra Taisha in Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The ritual occurs with the presentation of a golden ball and a silver ball as well as offerings (shinsen) before the kami (shinzen).

At eleven o'clock a person carrying the two balls is placed in the completely darkened keidai (shrine grounds), and the worshippers exchange wooden balls with one another in the dark. After about an hour the lights are turned back on; the persons holding the gold and silver ball serves in an offering and thanksgiving ritual (hōsai) on the following morning.
The two balls are regarded as the two balls that control tidal ebb and flow.

A Tamakae shinji is also held at Miyajidake Jinja in Tsuyazaki Town, Munakata County, Fukuoka Prefecture, on January 21.
Similar rituals are also the
Tamatorisai (Ball-taking ritual) held at Itsukushima Jinja in Miyajima Town, Saeki County, Hiroshima Prefecture, and another
Tamatorisai held on April 16 at Kamato Jinja in Daizaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture.
source : Mogi Sakae, Kokugakuin, 2006

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Shrine Kora Taisha 高良大社（こうらたいしゃ）

高良玉垂命神社、高良玉垂宮
1 Mii-machi, Kurume-shi, Fukuoka

Look for more photos :
source :　robounohan

The shrine is also famous for the azalea festifal in May.
Koorazan tsutsuji matsuri 高良山つつじ祭り

The shrine was built in the 5th century.
Rebuilding took place in 1600, and now it is an
"Important Cultural Asset".

quote
At a height of 312 meters (1,024 feet), Mt. Kora stands on the westernmost edge of the Mino Mountain Range. On this mountain you will find Kora Taisha Shrine, a former National Shrine and a major shrine in the Chikugo region.

The construction of Kora Shrine is said to have taken place in 400 AD; it was ordained one of the highest ranking shrines in 897 AD and had an elevated rank within the Engishiki (a book of laws and regulations) as a shrine dedicated to gods worshipped at critical times.

Kora Taisha is a historical shrine in that its power of influence during the middle ages came to compete with that of central government officials sent to oversee the province. It is also known for being the place that received the prayers of Prince Kanenaga Shinno, who established a residence at the base of the mountain in the Nanboku-cho Period (1336 – 1392).

The main sanctuary, offering hall and worship hall that we see today were built by the third Kurume feudal lord Arima Yoritoshi, and each is has been deemed an Important Cultural Asset by the government.

In addition, Kora Shrine is the home to
“The Tale of the Heike Ink Volume” (Government Designated Important Cultural Asset),
“The Origins of Kora Taisha Shrine Colored Silk Hanging Scrolls” (Municipal Designated Cultural Asset), and other such treasures.
A forest of a moso bamboo species (a designated National Natural Treasure), Kogoishi Rock (Government Designated Important Cultural Asset and Historical Site), and other precious sites are also preserved on Mt. Kora.
source : www.kurume-hotomeki.jp

quote
“Kora-san Kunchi” Festival
Kora Taisha Shrine’s “Kora-san Kunchi” Festival
is held from October 9 through 12 every year.

It is the shrine’s biggest festival that proclaims the presence of the Shinto god Kora. During this three day festival, Kora Taisha Shrine comes alive with traditional cultural events like the Lion Dance and Furyu (a musical and dance performing art), Japanese archery exhibitions, and dedicatory performances of various martial arts!
. . . . . and
Kora Taisha Shrine’s Kawatarisai Festival (Hekokaki Matsuri Festival)
Azalea Festival at Kora Taisha Shrine
Annual Festival at Ichiebisusha Shrine
Kora Taisha Shrine’s “Kangetsusai” Festival
Kurume Forest Azalea Park..
source : www.kurume-hotomeki.jp

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Warding off evil at the New Year ceremonies

Azalea Park Photos
source : kourasan/tsutsuji

Amulet to WIN　勝 - with bow and arrow

Homepage of the Shrine
source : www.kourataisya.or.jp

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Exchanging auspicious things as kigo

. hanakae 花換祭 / 花換祭り Flower-exchanging festival .

. usokae うそ替え exchanging bullfinches .

quote
Festivals where things are exchanged
by Mogi Sakae

usokae shinji , Bullfinch-exchanging rite.
A rite held during the night of January seventh at the shrine Dazaifu tenmangū in Dazaifu City, Fukuoka prefecture. Bullfinches (uso) made of wood are used as charms against fire. People take their bullfinches that are covered with the preceding year's grime to the Tenman shrine, and everyone exchanges bullfinches with anyone else freely, saying "kaemashō, kaemashō " ("Let's trade, let's trade"). During this excitement the shinshoku (shrine priests) lose themselves among the crowd of worshippers and walk about surreptitiously passing out the shrine's twelve bullfinches. Those who get one of the gold bullfinches are said to receive good fortune for the year.

The festival called onisube, famous for protection from fire, is observed after the bullfinch festival. Two groups of nearly one hundred people each are divided into the "demon guards" and the "smoke handlers." The latter light a huge mound of fresh pine piled up outside of the shrine hall with sacred fire (or by rubbing two sticks together), and fan the smoke into the shrine with an enormous fan. On the inside the demon guards beat the slat board walls with wooden mallets. Then, drawn by torches, the smoke-covered demons try to go around the shrine, but the shrine priests throw parched beans at them. People strike the demon masks that the performers wear with staffs called utsue. After going around the outside and inside of the shrine through the smoke and ash the demons come to a stop.
The usokae shinji at the shrine Kamadotenjinsha in Kōtō-ku, Tokyo is said to have been brought from Dazaifutenmangū.

On January fifth there is an usokae matsuri also at the shrine Meihamatenmangū in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka prefecture. Similar to the bullfinch rites is the hatokaeshi shinji (dove-exchanging rite) at the shrine Usajingu in Usa City, Ōita prefecture.

There is a tamakaeshi matsuri (gem-exchanging festival) on January twenty-first in which tama gems are traded at Miyajidake Jinja, Munakata-gun, Fukuoka prefecture.
In addition, there are festivals such as the okinjokaeshi matsuri in Hinagu, Ashikita-gun, Kumamoto prefecture, in which dolls are traded,
and the hanakae matsuri (flower-exchanging festival) at the shrine Kanezakigū in Tsuruga City, Fukui prefecture.
source : Mogi Sakae / eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp

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HAIKU

男にも柔きてのひら玉替祭　
otoko ni mo yawaraki te no hira tamakae sai

men also have
a soft palm of the hand -
festival of exchanging balls
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Yanagida Mei 柳田芽衣

玉替の闇を掴みし祭りの手　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
三枝青雲

玉替の六玉の熱し闇の中　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
長谷川ヱミ

欲捨てて玉替祭の玉を待つ　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
上田桜

誠より嘘の楽しみ玉替える　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
松田ひろむ

source : kamomeza

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***** . NEW YEAR - the complete SAIJIKI

***** . Hekokaki Festival へこかき祭り.
高良大社 Kora Taisha, Fukuoka

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NiinoYuki Matsuri Nagano

2012-01-14T20:36:00.000-08:00

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Snow festival (yuki matsuri )

***** Location: Nagano
***** Season: New Year
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Niino no yukimatsuri 新野の雪祭 (にいののゆきまつり)
snow festival at Niino
dengaku matsuri 田楽祭/雪祭り Dengaku festival
yuki matsuri 田楽祭/雪祭り Snowfestival

At Shimoina-gun Anan-cho in Shinano, Tenryu-Village, Nagano
信州下伊那郡阿南町

At night from January 14 to 15.
At the shrine Izu Jinja 伊豆神社

Traditional dances like Dengaku are performed. These dances are said to preceede the Noh and Kyogen performances of later times.

Loads of snow are made to the deities of the shrine.
If it snows on this day, the harvest of the coming year will be good.
More than 19 masked dancers take part in the performances. One rides a paper horse., another a paper cow and others.

source :　niino/index.html

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quote
The festival of Niino is very rare as well as Sakanbe winter festival. Dengaku and Sarugaku, original forms of Noh dances, are held all night through.

The fabulous masks look like Picasso’s paintings.
The most important god is Saiho who dances in peculiar fashion purifying rice seeds and promising good harvest.
Modoki, a partner of Saiho, plays comical role. Modoki derived from an old Japanese verb “modoku” or mimic.
All together thirteen dances are performed and the festival concludes with the last performance ta-asobi or field play, in which the outcome of the year is predicted. The festival is held in snowy freezing night. Villagers believe that snow will bring about a bumper crop for the coming year and call out joyfully;
We got a best of luck of heavy snow! Yukimatsuri was earlier called Dengaku matsuri.

Look at more photos!
source : photojapan.karigrohn.com

. Sakanbe no fuyu matsuri 坂部の冬祭
Winter Festival in Sakanbe (Sakabe) .

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... Dengaku, rustic Japanese celebrations that can be classified into two types:
dengaku that developed as a musical accompaniment to rice planting observances
and
the dengaku dances that developed in conjunction with sangaku.

. Dengaku (田楽） .

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HAIKU

Nihno-no-yukimatsuri　
das Winter-Festival in NIINO

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Naoi Matsuri Aichi

2012-01-13T16:58:00.000-08:00

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Driving away evil (Naoe matsuri)

***** Location: Aichi, Japan
***** Season: New Year
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Naoi no shinji 儺追の神事 (なおいのしんじ)
Naoi ritual for driving away evil
..... naoe matsuri 直会祭（なおえまつり） Naoe festival
..... naoi matsuri 儺追祭（なおいまつり） Naoi Festival

On the 13th of the first lunar month.
At the shrine Konomiya 国府宮神社 (Koo no Miya Jinja)
in Inazawa town, Aichi.
愛知県稲沢市. Aichi, former Owari province.

This is also known as the "Naked Festival" of Shrine Owari Ookuni tama Jinja
尾張大国霊神社（おわりおおくにたまじんじゃ）.
Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri

Photos by Philbert Ono, 2007 :
source photoguide.jp : MORE PHOTOS !

On the day before the festival 50 bags of kagami-mochi ritual rice cakes are offered to the deity.
On the festival day
Many thousand naked men, only clad in a white loincloth and white tabi socks, fight around the "man of god" 神男 . They try to "drop off" the impurities of last year and cleanse themselves for the coming year.

Afterwards, the mochi are cut and eaten by all to participate of the good luck for the coming year.

This festival in this form dates back to end of the Edo period.

It started in 787, when Emperor Shotoku Tenno 称徳天皇 (Shootoku Tennoo) ordered all the Kokubun-Ji government temples to hold rituals to ward off evil and the regent of Owari (Owari kokushi 尾張国司) started this ceremony.
A man passing the shrine would be taken captive and all the impurities were laid on him. He was then offered to the deities for purification and after that, he could continue his travels.
Human sacrifices were never made in this case, only ritual ones.

Homepage of the shrine, with photos:
source : www.konomiya.or.jp
尾張大國霊神社（国府宮）　

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tsuina 追儺（ついな）rituals for driving away evil

. Tsuina - Driving away evil spirits .

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直会 (なおらい）- naorai

quote
Naorai
A banquet that accompanies a matsuri.
Usually understood as a meal consisting of the offerings made at the festival after its conclusion, the naorai is actually one of the constituent elements of matsuri.

According to the Association of Shinto Shrines' Jinja saishiki, a naorai is included in major rites (taisaishiki), middle rites (chūsaishiki) and minor rites (shōsaishiki).

As for the actual performance of naorai,
"First, The person in charge sets out the food and drink.
Next, they pour the sacred drink, and all assembled drink.
Next, the naorai music is performed.
Next, the person in charge removes the dishes."

Also, where individual shrines have a specific practice that derives from a tradition, the naorai is performed. As we can see from this provision, there are many shrines preserving ancient practices in naorai.

Naorai are performed at the end of daijōsai and niinamesai, and these are called the toyonoakari no setchi-e, where white and black sake: (shiroki and kuroki) was presented to the assembled retainers. In an Imperial Proclamation of the Emperor Shōtoku we can see the expressions "Today is the day of the toyonoakari-kiko (ceremonial dinner) of the naorai of the Ōnie" and "Today is the day of the toyonoakari-kiko of the naorai of the niinae."

In the Engishiki it is mentioned that there was a naorai-den at Kasuga Shrine (now Kasuga Taisha) and also there was a building called the naorai-in at the Grand Shrines of Ise.

In any case it is said that the naorai has been conducted as a very important part of ceremonies and rites since ancient times. The word naorai is usually thought to derive from nahoriahi. The first character of the word connotes the end of a period of purifying body and mind for ritual (saikai), of returning to everyday life.

In contrast, another theory by Orikuchi Shinobu posits a connection to the naobi no kami. Accordingly the meaning of naorai would be worship of these gods of purification at the conclusion of a ceremony, having moved to a different place, as an apology for any offences committed during the ceremony.

Another interpretation identifies the first character with the idea of sitting down before a table set for a meal, and the second character with the idea of 'all meeting together.' Needless to say, this is a religious event but if it means "after the conclusion of the ceremonies, the sake (miki) and food offerings (shinsen) presented to the kami are taken down and people partake of them" then it does not have any element or meaning of ending purification.
source : Mogi Sadasumi, Kokugakuin, 2006

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a sweet potato shochu 芋焼酎 shnaps called Naorai.

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- WASHOKU - Japanese Food Culture -
. Food and Rituals .

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After a purification ritual, people buy a set of talismans for the new year.
It inlcudes some sweets too.

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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There are other shrines called "Okuni Shrine" in Japan.

quote
Okuni jinja　小國神社 Okuni Shrine
Okuni Shrine located in Mori-machi, Shuchi-gun, Shizuoka Pref. is a shrine with plentiful mythology and natural beauty.
The enshrined deity is Omunachi (Okuninushi) no Mikoto. The original shrine was located in Mt. Motomiya, but it was transferred to the present place in 555, when a holy spirit appeared in the mountain. Honden (the main hall) and Haiden (oratory) are of Taisha-zukuri style. The grove of trees in the precinct is called “the Ancient Forest,” where old cedar trees of several hundred years old create superb atmosphere.

The shrine is worshipped by the people all over ex-Enshu province (present-day western part of Shizuoka Pref.) and as many as 300,000 people come to offer prayers on the New Year’s Day. Visitors can enjoy natural beauty from season to season such as cherry blossoms, iris in the iris garden beside the entrance of the shrine, and autumn foliage.

Junidan Bugaku (twelve dances), which is dedicated in the annual festival in April, and the dance in Taasobi Matsuri (festival for good harvest) in January are designated as the prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Properties.
source : nippon-kichi.jp

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HAIKU

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***** . NEW YEAR - the complete SAIJIKI

. Naked Festivals (hadaka matsuri　裸祭り) .

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Nishi Shichijo Taue Kyoto

2012-01-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

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Rice planting ceremony at Nishi Shichijo village

***** Location: Kyoto
***** Season: New Year
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Nishi Shichijoo taue shinji
西七条田植神事 (にししちじょうたうえしんじ)
rice planting ceremony at Nishi Shichijo village

At the old village of Shichijoomura in Kadono koori, Kyoto
(Yamashina part of Kyoto)
Kadono-gun · Kyoto-shi Ukyo-ku
京都府葛野郡西七条村

A ceremony to invite a good harvest for the coming year.

In the night from the 15th to the 16th of the first lunar month,
two men clad as farmers, wearing simple masks, and one man clad as a woman called "oyase おやせ" walk around the village, from home to home, to perform the movements of rice planting.
The woman wore a round basket with special shime decorations on her head.
korinaki コリナキ
She also wore a special red robe, usually for a wedding ceremony.

This was thought to invoke the plants to grow strong and healthy.

This ritual had been performed until around 1905, when it was abolished.

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. WKD : planting rice in the paddies, taue 田植 .

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Nearby is a famous old temple, Engakuji 円覚寺

山城国葛野郡水尾村粟田山円覚寺

source : www.kagemarukun

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HAIKU

夕映えが田植神事の前垂れに　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
柳田芽衣

田植神事の化粧くずるる女形　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
長谷川ヱミ

西七条田植おやせが土間囃す　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
三枝青雲

西七条田植神事も恋はじめ　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
松田ひろむ

西七条田植神事の赤いべべ　
Nishi shichijoo taue shinji no akai bebe

the red robe
of the Nishishichijo
rice planting ritual
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Ariyama Takehiko 有山武彦

source :　kamomeza

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Imigomori retreat

2012-01-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

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Retreat on the day of the wild boar (imigomori )

***** Location: Kakogawa, Hyogo
***** Season: New Year
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

imigomori　亥巳籠 (いみごもり) retreat
from the first day of the wild boar (i 亥)
to the day of the snake (mi 巳)

Kako no monoshizume 加古の物鎮（かこのものしずめ）
seclusion at Kakogawa

also spelled oigomori 亥巳籠（おいごもり）
and migomori 身籠 . 妊 means pregnant.

at the shrine Hioka jinja 日岡神社 in Kakogawa, Hyogo
兵庫県加古川市（播磨国賀古郡）

People put up a new shimenawa rope for the shrine and place sacred branches in front of the sanctuary. From the hour of the wild boar to the hour of the snake seven days later they try to make no noise.

It is a pun on the sound of IMI (imi 忌み)
a period of respectful mourning or
a period of paying great respect to the deities.

Legend says that the mother of Yamato Takeru,
Princess Inahi ooiratsume no mikoto 稲日大郎姫命
(いなひおおいらつめのみこと）"Oiratsume of Inabi"
gave birth to the royal twins on the day of the snake at the end of this period.
So people keep quiet to make her birthing easier.

The priests of the shrine prepare special meals for the deities during this period.

On the last day, special arare sweets are distributed
(年の実 - fruit of the year)
and ritual shoting occurs in the shrine compound (matoi 的射).

After this ritual, spring was welcomed in the old province of Harima 播磨.

There are other igomori rituals in Japan.

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quote
Igomori matsuri
Seclusion festival.

A festival held from March eleventh to thirteenth at Tosa Jinja in Kōchi City, Kōchi prefecture. From the evening of March first the gūji (head priest) and shinshoku (shrine priests) enter into a period of monoimi (purificatory abstinence) On the afternoon of the twelfth a pair of chopsticks made from peeled haji (wax tree) branches is added to a container filled with steamed brown rice called mikinehan (thrice-pounded rice).
A rite is performed in which a special shinsen (sacred meal) is offered to the kami. Early on the morning of the thirteenth after the main ritual observance, the priests partake of a naorai (sacred communal meal). The head priest grasps some of the steamed brown rice that had been removed from its place of offering with chopsticks that have been broken in two and eats it. Then the other priests eat a portion of the brown rice in turn. In previous times after the ritual observance in front of the sessha (branch shrine) Nishigozensha, the priest is said to have performed a rice planting rite called saitsukuri.

At Hisamaru Jinja in Kanbe, Tahara-chō, Atsumi-gun, Aichi prefecture, on the day of the monkey in January there was an
igomori matsuri (written 忌籠祭).
The priests moved the shintai (sacred object) to which the kami's spirit had been transferred, carrying it next to the breast, and performed cold water ablutions in the sea. Since residents were not permitted to watch the movement of object and priests from the shrine to the sea and back again, the rite came to be called the nematsuri (sleeping festival) because the residents closed their doors and took to their beds. According to tradition, the people had to be discrete because the kami (saijin) worshipped at the shrine was originally a senior court noble who did not want to be seen because of his unsightly appearance.

At Hioka Jinja in Kakogawa City, Hyōgo prefecture there is an imigomori (亥巳籠, "boar and snake seclusion") festival that lasts from the first day of the boar of the first lunar month until the day of the snake
- this igomori (亥巳籠) rite puns on the igomori (忌籠) festival at Hisamaru Jinja.
The character "i" in the latter case is usually read "imi," meaning purificatory abstinence or taboo .
If the observances of the taboo were insufficient, Mt. Hioka was said to rumble and batsu (divine punishment) would follow.
source : Mogi Sakae, Kokugakuin

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Hioka jinja 日岡神社

This shrine is famous for making prayers for a save delivery (anzan).

. . . CLICK here for Photos of ema !

ema votive tablet for the year of the Tiger

Deities in residence

天伊佐佐比古命 Amenoisasa hiko no mikoto
Ame no Isasa Hiko no Mikoto
豊玉比売命 Toyotamahime
鵜草葺不合命 Ugayafukiaezu
天照皇大御神 Amaterasu Omikami
市杵島比売命 Ichikishimahime

. Anzan o-Mamori, 安産お守り
Talismans for Safe Delivery .

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Yamatotakeru
A son of Emperor Keikō, and father to Emperor Chūai.
Yamatotakeru's mother was Ōiratsume of Inabi in Harima, the daughter of Wakatakekibitsuhiko, ancestor of the clan known as Kibi no Omi.

. Yamato Takeru, Yamatotakeru 日本武尊 .

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HAIKU

giving birth
to a special haiku -
wild boar and snake

Gabi Greve, January 2012

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Hakusan Festivals

2012-01-06T17:18:00.000-08:00

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Hakusan Shrine Festivals

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: New Year
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

There are many Hakusan shrines 白山神社 in Japan.
see below about Hakusan belief.

Shirayama Hongu Shrine 白山本宮
(Hakusan Hongu Shrine
or Hakusan-ji Temple 白山寺)
Shirayama Hime Jinja 白山比咩神社（しらやまひめじんじゃ）
located on Mt. Gozenpo 御前峰
headquarter of over 2000 branch shrines and temples.
石川県白山市三宮町ニ105-1

. Hakusan Shrine in Tokyo .

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Nagataki Hakusan Jinja muikasai 長滝白山神社六日祭
(ながたきはくさんじんじゃむいかさい)
Festival on the 6th day at Nagataki Hakusan Shrine

source :　hibishigoto.blog

hana ubai matsrui 花奪い祭
"festival of taking blossoms by force"
People try to get a paper blossom from the decoration hung up at the ceiling.
It will bring good luck and fortune for the coming year.
The paper blossoms are cherry, chrysanthemum, camellia, peonies and poppies.

The famous dance 長滝の延年の舞 is performed.
This festival is an important folk cultural asset.

NagatakiJinja 長滝神社

The shrine is located in Gifu, Gujo Town, Hakucho village.
岐阜県郡上市白鳥町長滝138

This shrine is one of the most important Hakusan shrines in Japan, best known for its Hakusan Mandala.

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Since Meiji, the shrine and temple have been separated
Hakusan Chuuguu Chooryuuji 白山中宮長滝寺
（はくさんちゅうぐうちょうりゅうじ）
Temple Hakusan Chugu Choryu-Ji

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Another important festival of this shrine is held on May 5
dededen matsuri でででん祭り DedeDen festival
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Famous for its drums, which make the sound DEDEDE . . .

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Nonomiya matsuri (No no Miya)箟宮祭 (ののみやまつり)
Nonomiya festival
Nonotake Hakusan matsuri
箟岳白山祭（ののたけはくさんまつり）
Mount Nonotake Hakusan Festival

At the temple Koopooji 箟峯寺 Kopo-Ji in Wakuyacho village, Northern Miyagi
宮城県涌谷町箟峯寺
Fourth Sunday of January.

An arrow-shooting ritual.
Two children clad in ancient robes and hats have to shoot12 arrows in exchange with a priest.
Depending on the hits, the weather and a good or bad harvest of the year can be forecast.

At the Kannon Hall 観音堂 of the temple
Hakusan Shinji 白山神事 Hakusan ritual

This is one of the oldest rituals in Japan, involving the Hakusan belief of mountain worship.

The region is famous for ancient findings of gold mines.

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Shrine Hakusan Jinja 白山神社
Hakusan shinkoo白山信仰 Hakusan belief

First an animistic belief, now featured by Tendai Esoteric Buddhism.

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quote
Hakusan Shinkō
Hakusan is the collective name given to the three mountains Gozenpō, Ōnanjimine, and Bessan located at the intersection of the regions Kaga, Echizen, and Mino.
Hakusan shinkō is the faith based on the deification of these mountains.

Local farmers believed that Hakusan was a mountain inhabited by "water kami" (suijin), dragon kami (ryūjin), and the spirits of the dead.
Fishermen of the Japan Sea worshipped Hakusan as a kami of fishing and seafaring.

The Jinmyōchō section of the Engishiki records a "Shirayamahime Jinja" in Ishikawagun, Kaga (Tsurugimachi, Ishikawa Prefecture), but after the medieval period when "kami and Buddha syncretism" (shinbutsu shūgū) developed, it became customary to read "shirayama" as "hakusan" (both are readings of the characters 白山).

There are various theories as to the preponderance of Hakusan shrines (jinja or gongen) in eastern Japan in areas where outcastes (hisabetsu) live, but the reason for this are unknown. There have been various "enshrined kami" (saijin) claimed for the shrine, but currently Kukurihime no kami (i.e. Shirayamahime no ōkami) is the main kami worshipped alongside Izanagi no kami and Izanami no kami.

Kukurihime no kami is worshipped at the shrine okumiya on Mount Gozenpō, Ōnamuchi no kami is enshrined at Ōnanji Jinja on Mount Ōnanjimine, and Ōyamatsumi no kami is worshipped at Bessan Jinja on Mount Bessan.

The Shirayama no ki, however, states that the indigenous "land master kami" (jinushigami) gave his land to Hakusan Gongen, and moved to Mount Bessan. This story is thought to reflect the expanded power of people who worshipped the newly Buddhist-styled Hakusan Gongen.
Hakusan was a "mountain where the kami abides" (shintaisan) (which was taboo to ascend), but along with the development of Shugendō people began to ascend the mountain. Legend claims that the "mountain was opened" (kaisan) by Taichō Shōnin at the beginning of the Nara Period, but his name does not appear in sources from that era. However, his name does appear in such Heian Period documents as the Taichō kashō denki and the Shirayama no ki, and therefore we can surmise that there were already people climbing the mountain for worship in the Heian Period.

The Shirayama no ki was copied 1439 but the original manuscript is believed to date back to the Heian Period. According to this text, Mount Gozenpō, where Kukurihime no kami is enshrined, was referred to by the name Zenjō (meditation), the kami was called Hakusan Myōri Daibosatsu, the "original Buddhist deity" (honjibutu) of Kukurihime no kami was the Eleven-faced Kannon (Ekadasamukha Avalokitesvara), Ōnamuchi no kami was the Buddha Amida (Amitābha), and Ōyamatsumi no kami was Shō Kannon (Ārya-Avalokitesvara). The text also records the legend that if one drinks water from the lake Midorigaike, where Hakusan Myōri Daibosatsu was supposedly born, one would achieve the "merit" (riyaku) of an extended, long life.

Documents place the site of Shirayamahime Jinja in Kaga, but there were three routes for climbing the mountain, from Hakusan Kagababa, Hakusan Echizenbaba, and Hakusan Minobaba, indicating that pilgrimages could start from each of the three regions that the mountain straddles. The mountain pilgrimage route is called a zenjōdō (path of meditation), the entrances to the mountain trails are called baba, and there were also places to worship from a distance.

Along the pilgrimage route are shrines called Hakusan Shichisha (the Seven Shrines of Hakusan). Women were permitted pilgrimage as far as the center shrine (Chūgū). We can imagine that many people made pilgrimages to the shrine as a result of the use of such materials as the Shirayama no ki and Hakusan sankei mandala paintings for preaching about the merits of Hakusan. Lodging facilities were established at the baba sites to accommodate pilgrims, and a system of Hakusan "associations" (kō) developed, in part due to the activities of oshi.
Thus the cult of Hakusan spread.
source : Nogami Takahiro, Kokugakuin, 2007

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Mark Schumacher has all the details:

quote
HAKUSAN MOUNTAINS
HAKUSAN 白山 (lit. white mountain)
is the collective name for a number of sacred Japanese mountains that converge along the borders of four prefectures (Ishigawa, Fukui, Gifu, and Toyama) in northwest Honshū island. From early on, Hakusan was known as a "mountain realm inhabited by kami" (shintaisan 神体山). The character "shin" 神 is also read "kami," which means Shintō deity. The mountains were once taboo to climb, but with the subsequent growth of Japan's Shugendō cult of ascetic mountain practice, Hakusan became a popular site of worship, meditation, pilgrimage, and ascetic training.The deification and worship of Hakusan's mountain kami is known as
Hakusan Shinkō 白山信仰 (lit. = Hakusan faith),
and today 2000+ nationwide Shirayama Jinja Shrines 白山神社 (also read Hakusan Shrines) are devoted to this faith.
The characters for Hakusan are also read "Shirayama."

Hakusan is undeniably one of Japan's most important and ancient sites of religious mountain worship (sangaku shūkyō 山岳宗). The Hakusan mountains are celebrated in the Man'yōshū 万葉集 (Japan's oldest anthology of verse compiled in the 8th century). Over the centuries, Hakusan became a stronghold of Shintō-Buddhist syncretism, a major pilgrimage site, a center of ascetic practice for the Shugendō 修験道 cult of mountain worship, and the focus of artwork known as the Hakusan Mandala. Today Hakusan is considered one of Japan's three most sacred mountain sites (Nihon Sanreizan 三霊山 or Nihon Sanmeisan 三名山).
The other two are Mt. Fuji and Mt. Tateyama.

Sacred Hakusan Mountains

Gozenpō 御前峰
Ōnanjimine 大汝峰
Bessan 別山
Kengamine 剣ヶ峰
Ōkurayama 大倉山
Sannomine 三ノ峰

Hakusan Pilgrimage

Hakusan Deities
Shirayamahime no Kami 白山比売
(aka Kukurihime no Kami 菊理媛神 aka
Hakusan Myōri Daibosatsu 白山妙理大菩薩)

Kukurihime no Kami 菊理媛神

Hakusan Myōri Gongen 白山妙理権現
Izanagi no Mikoto (伊邪那岐命 or 伊奘諾尊 or 伊耶那岐命) and
Izanami no Mikoto (伊邪那美命 or 伊奘冉尊 or 伊耶那美命).

Ōnamuchi no Kami 大穴牟遅神 (or 大己貴神)
Ōyamatsumi no Kami 大山津見神 (or 大山祇)

Hakusan Shichi Gongen 白山七権現
Hakusan Sansho Gongen 白山三所権現

Betsuzan Daigyōji 別山大行事

7 important Hakusan Shrines

Hakusan Mandala 白山曼荼羅
At Nagataki Hakusan

source : - Mark Schumacher

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

The various Hakusan shrines are often visited by haiku groups.

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Nou Hakusan Jinja 能生白山神社

This Hakusan shrine in itoigawa, Niigata was visited by
Matsuo Basho and there is now a stone memorial.

新潟県：西頸城郡／能生町 Nou-Machi

曙や霧にうづまく鐘の声
akebono ya kiri ni uzumaku kane no koe

morning light -
the sound of the temple bell
swirls in the autumn fog

Matsuo Basho, 1689, July 11

Shioji no kane 汐路の鐘, 越後能生社汐路の名鐘
"The bell for ebb and flood"
Legend knows that this bell made a sound when the tide was coming up, so that the villagers know it and the children can take care on the beach.
The original bell was lost in a fire, but later replaced from the leftovers of bronze that could be found.
It is 107 cm high and has a diameter of 68 cm.
From the inscription of the bell it is known that it belonged to
Hakusan Gongen temple Taihei-Ji
白山権現の別当能生山泰平寺
It was made in 1499.
Now it is at Itoigawa 糸魚川市大字能生7239（白山神社).

When Yoshitsune fled to the North of Japan around 1185, the village had about 7 homes of fishermen.
Basho wrote a few haiku at the village, while he stayed with Tamaya Goroemon 玉や五郎兵衛.

source :　www.noumachi.com/tamaya

Discussion of the haiku by
- Larry Bole -

The voice of the bell
Eddies through the mist,
In the morning twilight.

--Basho, trans. Blyth

Blyth comments:
"The sound of the bell has taken to it the form of the mist, lingering here, hurrying there, trailing and swirling through the damp air.
Compare Onitsura's verse, Vol. II, page 91."

遠う来る鐘のあゆみや春霞
tookitaru kane no ayumi ya harugasumi

The bell from far away,--
How it moves along in its coming
Through the spring haze!

Onitsura, trans. Blyth

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Related words

***** . NEW YEAR - the complete SAIJIKI

. Hakusan Shrines in the WKD .
Shirayama jinja, Hakusan jinja 白山神社

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Futomani divination

2012-01-03T20:43:00.000-08:00

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Futomani festival (futomani matsuri)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: New Year
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Futomani matsuri 太占祭 Futomani festival
Futomani sai 太占祭

Third day of the first lunar month.
At shrine Musashi Mitake jinja 武蔵御嶽神社

The shoulderblade of a deer is touched with red-hot iron and the cracks used to read the fortune of the coming year.
This is a secret ritual and not open to the public.

source :　blog.hoshinokobeya.com
Only the result of the oracle is given to the people.

This kind of divination with oracle bones comes from China.

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quote
The Hotsuma Futomani Divination Chart

Toyoke, lord of the northern provinces (celebrated today as the tutelary deity of the Ise Outer Shrine), drew up a chart using 51 phonetic symbols to represent the 49 deities residing in the heavens. This he presented to his daughter Isanami and her spouse Isanagi, 8th in the line of divine rulers of Japan.

Amateru, son of Isanagi and Isanami, had his nobles compose poems based on Toyoke's chart. From these, he selected 128, which were then set down as the Futomani Book of Divination (the origin of Shinto divination rituals).

The symbols A-U-WA in the inner circle represent Amemiwoya, the creator of heaven and earth.
The Amemiwoya (August Heavenly Ancestor) deity.

MORE
source : www.hotsuma.gr.jp

The Hotsuma Tsutae (also Hotuma Tsutaye, 秀真伝)
is an elaborate epic poem of Japanese legendary history which differs substantially from the mainstream version as recorded in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. Its antiquity is undetermined.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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quote
Bokusen 　卜占　Divination
A method of divination for determining the divine will or foretelling the outcome of an event.
Today, bokusen most often signifies divination in general which comprises an extremely complex variety of methods. In the original sense of bokusen, however, 卜 depicted the shape of cracking that appears when the bone of an animal or a tortoise shell is heated, whereas 占 meant to report what was interpreted by reading the pattern of that cracking.

Archeological records indicate that, from the end of the Jōmon period or the early Yayoi period, deer-scapula divination (rokuboku　鹿卜) was also conducted in Japan. In this practice, hollows were carved in the underside of the bone of a deer or other large ruminants , the hollows were heated to produce cracking on the bone's other surface, and divination was based on the resulting pattern of the cracks (bokuchō).

The Kiki (both the Kojiki and Nihon shoki) and other sources also refer to this method of divination as futomani. Alongside the archaic divination ritual of kukatachi, futomani was one of two methods of determining the divine will.

Thereafter, "tortoise-shell divination" (kiboku 亀卜), which substituted a tortoise shell for the scapula of a ruminant , became increasingly popular. Both rokuboku and kiboku are thought to have originated in China; similar to China, moreover, kiboku eventually replaced futomani in Japan as well.

Under the ritsuryō system of codified laws, diviners (urabe) were employed by the Jingikan (see Ritsuryō Jingikan) and, whenever a major decision needed to be made at the imperial court and on other occasions, a diviner who had undergone purification would pray to the "deities of the divination courtyard" (uraniwa no kami) and perform kiboku.
From the Kamakura period, however, the practice of this divination method declined greatly. In addition to futomani and kiboku, the Kiki, Man'yōshū, and other texts record various other methods of bokusen.

For example,
"footstep divination" (aura) counts the number of steps walked;
"bird divination" (toriura) interprets the cries of a bird or the direction it flies; and
"evening divination" (yūke),
"bridge divination" (hashiura), and
"roadside divination" (tsujiura) interpret the words of a passerby.

In Study of Correct Divination (Seibokukō), Ban Nobutomo refers to such bokusen methods as "miscellaneous divination" (zassen) and groups them in the same category as divination methods that have the character of a "divine message communicated through a possessed person" (takusen), such as
"koto divination" (kotoura),
"dream divination" (yumeura), and
"song divination" (utaura).

Furthermore, Ban Nobutomo considers orthodox bokusen to consist exclusively of zassen, futomani, and kiboku methods that are mentioned in classical texts and he rejects other methods as lacking legitimacy. In contrast with his assertions that reflect his affiliation with the National Learning (kokugaku) movement, however, "fortune-telling" (ekisen　易占) related to Yin-Yang thought (Onmyōdō　陰陽道) and based on the sexagenary cycle of the Chinese lunar calendar (eto) and The Book of Changes (Zhou yi) had grown increasingly popular since the medieval period. From the early modern period, a divination method called bokuzei　卜筮 became widespread which used a large number of slim bamboo sticks called zeichiku 　筮竹　or six four-sided stocks called sangi　算木.
source : Suzuki Kentaro, Kokugakuin 2006

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Musashi Mitake jinja 武蔵御嶽神社

Another festival in Januray at this shrine is the
Ooguchi magami matsuri 大口真神祭り
Wolf Deity Festival

Magami or Oguchi Magami (deity with a great mouth) is the wolf deity.

Once upon a time in the Nara region there was a great old wolf, who had killed and eaten many humans. To appease him he was deified and given deer and wild boars as offerings.
So he learned to tell the difference between human beings, who fed him, and wild animals he could eat. He soon became a protector deity for good people, punishing the bad ones.
He also prevented fire and robbery and was often depicted in ema votive tablets.
With the passing of time, forests became mores sparce and wolves a rarity in our times.

The stone wolf of Mitsumine Shrine, Chichibu

. Kaneko Tohta - Chichibu Wolf Haiku .

ema with wolf and Yamato Takeru
from Hodosan Jinja 宝登山神社

More photos
source : kemono/wolf-shrine

Wolf Deity Amulet

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Chinese oracle bones

Oracle bones (kookotsu 甲骨)
are pieces of bone normally from ox scapula or turtle plastron (underside) which were used for divination chiefly during the late Shang Dynasty. The bones were first inscribed with divination in oracle bone script (Chinese: 甲骨文; pinyin: jiǎgǔwén) by using a bronze pin, and then heated until crack lines appeared in which the divinations were read.

However in later Zhou Dynasty, cinnabar/ink and brush became the preferred writing method, resulting in fewer carved inscriptions and often blank oracle bones being unearthed. The oracle bones bear the earliest known significant corpus of ancient Chinese writing, and contain important historical information such as the complete royal genealogy of the Shang dynasty.

When they were discovered and deciphered in the early twentieth century, these records confirmed the existence of the Shang, which some scholars had until then doubted.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

吉兆の雨の太占祭り見に
kitchoo no ame no futomani masturi mi ni

auspicious rain
is falling at the Futomani festival
when I go there

Miki Seiun 三枝青雲
source :　kamomeza

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***** . NEW YEAR - the complete SAIJIKI

***** . Omikuji みくじ　御籤 sacred lots .

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Butsumyo-E ceremony

2011-12-19T17:45:00.000-08:00

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Buddha's Name Ceremony (butsumyoo-e)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Winter
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

butsumyooe 仏名会 (ぶつみょうえ)
Ceremony of chanting of the Buddhas' Names
"depictions of the Buddhas", Butsumyo-E, Butsumyo Ceremony
..... o butsumyoo 御仏名（おぶつみょう）

kazukewata, kazuke wata 被綿（かずけわた）"covering cotton"
Kaenashi no kenpai 栢梨の献盃（かえなしのけんぱい）
a ritual drink of sake brewed with the juice of Japanese pears (nashi) from the village of Kaenashi in Settsu province 摂津国栢梨.
Used for a toast to the New Year.

A special ceremony held at many Buddhist temples throughout Japan.

For three days from the 19th of the 12th lunar month a memorial service is held.
The 11.093 names of the Buddhas of past, present and future (butsumyoo) are read out.
While the priests read out the names, the visitors may sit in another room and drink riutal sake.

People pray for forgiveness of the sins of the passing year and hope to purify the heart for the coming year.

At the imperial court, this ceremony has been held since the year
775, Hooki 5 宝亀五年.

The priests clad themselves in white cotton robes to express a pure heart.

As with many ceremonies, the placing of the season is problematic.
This is a ceremony for the New Year, on the last lunar month of the year. But now it falls in January.
Some saijiki place it in "early spring".

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chanting the names of Buddha

names of the Buddha

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HAIKU

板敷に光るつぶりや仏名会
itajiki ni hikaru tsuburi ya Butsumyoo e

all these shaven heads
shining on the floor panels -
Butsumyo Ceremony

. Miyake Shoozan 三宅嘯山 Shozan (1718 - 1801) .

(Priests with their shaven heads lean over to read the names from their scrolls. Their reflection can be seen in the polished panels.
Nowadays they sit on tatami mats and we can not see this any more.)

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仏名会腰のぬけたるおはしけり　
Butsumyooe koshi o nuketaru ohashikeri

Butsumyo Ceremony -
some honorable priests
unable to stand up　

Yukifusa 之房

(Maybe some of the participants had a bit too much
of the good ritual ricewine . . . )

ohashi keri, owashi keri . owasu 御座す . polite language
御座けり

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***** . Namu Amida Butsu　
南無阿弥陀仏 the Amida Prayer 　

***** . kiku no kisewata 菊の着綿 Chrysanthemum covers .

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Chishaku-In Kyoto

2011-12-16T18:14:00.000-08:00

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Temple Chishaku-In 智積院

***** Location: Kyoto
***** Season: See below
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Chishakuin rongi 智積院論義 (ちしゃくいんろんぎ)
public ceremonial debate at temple Chishaku-In
kigo for early winter

from December 10 to 13, sometimes only for 2 days

rongi is difficult to translate into English. They were ritual formal ceremonial Buddhist public debates (disputes, disputations, discussions), where the monks had to show their understanding of the Buddhist sutra scriptures.
Now also called
fuyu hoo-on koo 冬報恩講 debates in winter
"honorable preaching ceremony" in winter

During the two or three days, torches are put up from the entrance to the main hall. Many priests come from all the affiliated temples in Japan to take part in the rituals.

Another name of the temple is
別称五百仏山根来寺
京都府京都市東山区東瓦町964

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quote
Chishaku-in is the head temple of Shingon Buddhism Chizan Sect.
It is the first temple on the Kyoto Jusan Butsu pilgrimage.

painted by Hasegawa Kyuzo

This temple is less popular among tourists but it has excellent Shoheki-ga (fusuma-e) paintings on the sliding paper doors that are National Treasures, as well as a very good garden.

Chishaku-in was founded in the 14th century as a sub-temple of Daidenpo-in that was established in Koyasan, Wakayama Prefecture by Priest Kakuban (1095-1144), in the year 1130. The mother temple then moved to Negorosan in Wakayama prefecture ten years later.

In the year 1585, Daidenpo-in, including its sub-temples, was totally destroyed by the actual ruler of the country, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598). Chief Priest of Chishaku-in, Genyu (Gen'yu, 1529-1605), who fled from the assault, had to wait until the Toyotomi family was destroyed and the Tokugawa family came to power. In the year 1601, the first Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu (1543-1616) gave a place to Genyu to revive Chishaku-in. Then, in the year 1615, Ieyasu gave them neighboring Shounzen-ji temple that had been founded by Hideyoshi in memory of his son Sutemaru who died in 1591 at the age of three.

The extant Shoheki-ga (or Fusuma-e) paintings (national treasures) were those displayed in Kyakuden building of Shounzen-ji. Chishaku-in suffered from several fires during its history and about half of the paintings were lost.
source : kyoto.asanoxn.com

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Vegetarian meal served at the temple lodgings.

. Vegetarian Temple Food
(shoojin ryoori 精進料理) .

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Yearly festivals and ceremonies

Every month on the 21 is a meeting to copy the sutras
shakyoo no tsudoi 写経のつどい

１月 - January
1日修正会
15日新年祝祷会・お昆布式
21日写経のつどい

２月 - February
3日節分会 Setsubun
15日常楽会
21日写経のつどい

３月 - March
6日～12日伝法大会／伝法灌頂（非公開）
春分の日春季彼岸会法要
21日正御影供
21日写経奉納法要・写経のつどい
30日得度式（非公開）

４月 - April
8日仏生会（はなまつり）
21日写経のつどい

５月 - May
21日写経のつどい

６月 - June
15日青葉まつり
21日写経のつどい

７月 - July
21日写経のつどい
31日得度式（非公開）

８月 - August
12日総本山施餓鬼会
21日写経のつどい
24日地蔵盆会 Jizo Bon
30日永代・納骨・日月牌総供養法要

９月 - September
10日運敞僧正忌
21日写経のつどい
秋分の日秋季彼岸会法要

１０月 - October
3日戦没者慰霊法要
4日玄宥僧正忌
21日写経のつどい

１１月 - November
21日写経のつどい

１２月 - December
8日成道会
11日・12日冬報恩講
21日写経のつどい
31日除夜の鐘

Homepage of the temple
source : www.chisan.or.jp

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HAIKU

智積院論義すみたる掛うどん
Chishaku-in rongi sumitaru kake-udon

after the debate
at Chishaku-in
a bowl of udon noodles

Kawasumi Sugekatsu 川澄祐勝, priest of the Shingon sect
智山派別格本山高幡不動尊金剛寺

We can imagine the monks after the debate, sitting around the long tables and slurping their hot soup in silence.
Slurping noodle soup is customary in Japan, and considered good manners.

. Kake udon noodle soup .

quote
... the public rongi custom arose during the medieval period, when there were a lot of sects and doctrinal disputes arising within Shingon Buddhism and that the debates were aimed at overcoming misunderstandings of the "true" Shingon Buddhism of the founder, Kukai.
... in the medieval period a number of unorthodox monks were expelled from Mt. Koya, the Shingon headquarters, for doctrinal reasons. Probably there were all sorts of disputes, including material ones as well! I believe several monks were declared heretics, and one whole new sect of Shingon, the so-called Tachikawa Sect of left-handed Tantric Buddhists, was vigorously disputed and opposed, and its texts and mandalas were destroyed.

The secular warrior authorities also actively suppressed the "heretical" Tachikawa Sect. Like Tendai, Shingon is an older sect in Japan, so for a while it was a crucible of dissent and dissenting sects, so the 'rongi' at Chishakuin may reflect some of this very vigorous verbal disputation during the period when new sects were challenging orthodoxy and branching off.

'Rongi' also includes debates/doctrinal disputes between sects outside Shingon. The Lotus (Nichiren) sect and the Pure Land sect were noted for their strenuous debates and verbal disputes, which sometimes turned into fights. You can see a pale reflection of how vigorous 'rongi' were in the medieval period if you read the No play 'Sotoba Komachi' ('Komachi on the Stupa'), in which Komachi verbally defeats her Shingon monk challengers.

During the Edo period fighting (with either weapons or fists) between sects was no longer acceptable, so 'rongi' must have become more subdued, but it would be interesting to know just how disputational the present-day debates at Chishakuin are.
source : Chris Drake

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Tibetan Monks debating

The Tibetan Gelugpa, “Way of Virtue”. Originally a reformist movement, this tradition is particularly known for its emphasis on logic and debate.
I have seen the Tibetan monks practising debate, almost like a dance, loudly shouting their argument and then CLAP, clap the hands, strech out one hand and point to the adversary.
Gabi Greve

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Related words

***** . hooonkoo, hoo-on koo 報恩講
Ho-onko, service for Shinran .

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Shitenno-Ji Osaka

2011-11-29T21:33:00.000-08:00

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Festivals at Temple Shitenno-Ji - 四天王寺

***** Location: Osaka
***** Season: See below
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Shitennō-ji 四天王寺 is a Buddhist temple in Osaka, Japan.
1-11-18 Shitennoji,Tennoji-ku, OsakaCity

Prince Shōtoku is said to have constructed this temple in 593. It is the first Buddhist and oldest officially administered temple in Japan, although the temple buildings have been rebuilt over the centuries. Most of the present structures are from when the temple was last completely rebuilt in 1963.

The Shitennō are the four heavenly kings. The temple Prince Shōtoku built to honor them had four institutions, each to help the Japanese attain a higher level of civilization. This Shika-in (四箇院, Four Institutions) was centered around the seven-building garan (伽藍) (the complex inside the walls), and included a Kyōden-in (Institution of Religion and Education), a Hiden-in (Welfare Institution), a Ryōbyō-in (Hospital), and a Seiyaku-in (Pharmacy) to provide essential care to the people of Japan.

The temple has been called Arahaka-ji, Nanba-ji, or Mitsu-ji.
Shitennō-ji is home to a major flea market on the 21st of each month.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. Shotoku Taishi 聖徳太子 and Daruma .

quote by Time Magazine
Of 202 Buddhist sanctuaries in Osaka's Tennōji district, there is one that stands out - Shitennōji, the first Japanese temple commissioned by a royal (Prince Shōtoku Taishi) and one of the oldest Buddhist complexes in Japan. Construction began in + 593, just decades after the religion reached the country's shores. One of the carpenters for Shitennoji, Shigemitsu Kongo, traveled to Japan from the Korean kingdom of Paekche (Paekje 百済) for the project.

Over a millennium-and-a-half, Shitennoji has been toppled by typhoons and burned to the ground by lightning and civil war -- and Shigemitsu's descendants have supervised its seven reconstructions. Today, working out of offices that overlook the temple, Kongo Gumi Co. is run by 54-year-old president Masakazu Kongo, the 40th Kongo to lead the company in Japan. His business, started more than 1,410 years ago, is believed to be the oldest family-run enterprise in the world.

MORE is here
- Mark Schumacher -

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kigo for mid-winter

Tennooji doosojin matsuri 天王寺道祖神祭
Dosojin Festival at temple Tenno-Ji
hagi matsuri 剥祭（はぎまつり）"left-out festival"
dorojijiri matsuri 泥くじり祭（どろくじりまつり）

On November 16 at the temple Tenno-Ji in Osaka.
Also at the temple Shinkooin 真光院（しんこういん）Shinko-In.
During the Edo period, stone Buddha statues were offered raw herring and the face smeared with white rice flour. Mikan wrapped in sasa grass leaves and straw were also offered.
In the evening the straw and grass was burned until the face of the deity was all black and people danced around the stone.

Three days before this event, children hang a rope over the way and ask for money if people want to pass. If they do not pay, they are "left out".
This festival was said to have an evil influence on the education of children and was later abolished.

Most temples in other parts of Japan celebrate this festival on January 14 or February 8.

. Dosojin 道祖神 the Wayside Gods .

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kigo for all winter

. Tennoo-Ji kabu 天王寺蕪（てんのうじかぶ）
turnips from temple Tenno-Ji .
Brassica campestris

They are also called Ukikabu 浮き蕪.
They are the roots of another vegetable, the Nozawana 野沢菜.

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kigo for the New Year
sometimes placed for "late winter"

Doya Doya どやどや Doyadoya Festival

January 14, from 2 to 4 pm

A ritual at the end of the Shushoo-e 修正会 - a memorial service starting January 1st and dedicated to world peace and rich harvests - the event is said to date back to as early as 827.

Two groups of young men in white and red loincloth and headbands wrangle in front of the temple to get the sacred amulet of the cow deity and some banknotes from the temple.
They are showered with water by the onlookers to cheer them further.

One of the three great festivals of Japan.

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Tennooji shoojin ku 天王寺生身供 (てんのうじしょうじんく)
Birthday Ritual
shari dashi 舎利出し（しゃりだし）"showing of the sacred bones"

Ceremony from January 5 to 14. (Nowadays till January 12)
At the Hall for Shotoku Taishi the birthday of the Prince if celebrated.

On this day food of 100 flavors are offered. An auspicious script says

毎日御精進供を献ず
"Every day we will offer ritual food"

source with more photos :　osaka-asoblog.jp

The sacred bones of the prince are shown in the morning.
There are six pieces of bones and six strings of his hair,
kept in the great pagoda

六道利救の塔

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Tennooji Kondoo choona hajime
天王寺金堂手斧始 (てんのうじこんどうちょうなはじめ
first use of the carpenter's ax

On January 11
The main officials and shrine carpenters, clad in traditional robes, performed the first ritual cut in a tree placed at the shrine.

MORE
. choona hajime 手斧始 (ちょうなはじめ)
first use of the carpenter's ax .

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Other important festivals, not kigo

April 22
聖霊会大阪市天王寺

June
30日～7月2日愛染祭り

July
12日生国魂神社夏祭り Ikutama Jinja Summer Festival

August
11～12日生国魂神社薪能 Ikutama Jinja Takagi Noh

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amulet with 元三大師 Ganzan Daishi
Ganzan Daishi is celebrated on November 3.
The amulet prevents evil influence and helps to learn and pass examinations.
He is also called
tsuno daishi 角大師 Great Teacher with Horns

. 元三大師 Ganzan Daishi .

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sange 散華 "scattered blossoms"
blossom-shaped amulets for good luck, with paintings by
Sugimoto Kenkichi 杉本健吉

source : Temple Homepage

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

- Sange 散華 from Japan - Photos -

銀花散る散華一葉ひらひらと
ginka chiru sange ichiyo hirahira to

silver flowers scatter -
one blossom leaf amulet
glittering, glittering

source : jun_uem

sange should get a page of their own !

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Tenno-Ji temple in Akita

July
7日天王寺の蜘蛛の舞い
秋田県天王町

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HAIKU

about the four deities
SHITENNŌ = Four Heavenly Kings

The Shitennō are Buddhist protectors of the four directions. They ward off evil, guard the nation, and protect the world from malicious spirits, hence the Japanese term Gose Shitennō 護世四天王, literally “four world-protecting deva kings.”
Each represents a direction, season, color, virtue, and element.

MORE
- Mark Schumacher -

彼岸会の四天王寺に蛇使ひ
higan-e no Shitennoo-ji ni hebi tsukai

at the equinox ceremony
of temple Shitenno-Ji
a snake charmer

Ootsubo Keishoo 大坪景章 Otsubo Keisho

鳩吹くや亀が集まる四天王寺
遠藤寛太郎

はま弓や当時紅裏四天王
Kikaku 其角

四天王の家々ゆゝし菖蒲葺く
中川四明

夏雲や鬚大いなる四天王
角田よし子

牛祭火に護られて四天王
五十嵐播水

source :　HAIKUreikuDB

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Related words

***** . Deities of the Four Directions .
The 12 Heavenly Generals 十二神将 :

Bishamonten 毘沙門天
Vaishravana ~ Heavenly King of the North

Jikokuten　持国天
Dhritarashtra ~ Heavenly King of the East

Zochoten　（Zoochooten）増長天
Virudhaka ~ Heavenly King of the South

Komokuten (Koomokuten)　広目天
Virupaksha ~ Heavenly King of the West

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Yamagata Festivals

2011-11-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

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Yamagata Festivals

***** Location: Yamagata
***** Season: Each month
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

source : www.yamagatakanko.com

January
Heisei Nabe Gassen Cook Off (Tendo City)
Mid-January
At this event devoted to the Japanese style of hot pot cooking called nabe, you can taste a wide range of nabe from not only within Yamagata but also from the entire Northeastern Tohoku region of Japan. There are even some overseas varieties of this originally Japanese dish.

Sasano Kannon Hatsu Ju-shichi-do Matsuri
(Yonezawa City)
January 17th
There are booths selling traditional arts and crafts including Sasano Ittobori wood carvings at this annual festival of the Sasano Kannon Temple.

Sakata Nihonkai Kandara Matsuri (Sakata City)
The 4th Saturday and Sunday in January
Experience the taste of Shonai at this festival by eating dongara jiru, a local cod stew dish found only in this region. During this festival, the streets of Sakata are lined with booths and venders with generation after generation of history serving their own unique specialty foods

Nihonkai Kandara Matsuri (Tsuruoka City)
The 3rd Sunday in January
During this festival, you can enjoy the taste of dongara jiru, a local cod stew dish often eaten during the winter in the Shonai region.

Yaya Matsuri (Shonai Town)
A Sunday in Mid-January
Boys between the ages of 5 and 14 are showered with cold water during this unique festival that takes places during the dead of winter at the Chigawara Hachiman Shrine.

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February

Zao Juhyo Matsuri (Yamagata City)
Late-January to Early-February
This festival of fire and ice takes place during the best time of the year to view the juhyo, trees so covered in snow and ice that they are called the ice monsters of Mt. Zao.

Kurokawa Noh Ogisai
(Tsuruoka City, Kushibiki District)
February 1st and 2nd
Pray for a bountiful new year while watching this Noh performance at the Kasuga Shrine.

Shinjo Yuki Matsuri (Shinjo City)
Early-February
This snow festival held in the Mogami Park area is one of the biggest winter events of the Shinjo area.

Uesugi Yuki Toro Matsuri (Yonezawa City)
The 2nd Saturday and Sunday in February
Over 3,300 candle-lit snow lanterns decorate the area around Uesugi Temple and Matsugasaki Park during this festival.

Kasedori (Kaminoyama City)
February 11th
This unique festival, believed to prevent fires, is a folk tradition passed down in Kaminoyama. They welcome new participants!

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March

Yamadera Basho Memorial Hall Special Exhibition: The Beauty of Hina Dolls (Yamagata City)
Late-February to Early-April
This is a special exhibition of Hina Dolls, which were introduced to Yamagata by safflower traders during the Edo period (1603-1868).

Tsuruoka Hina Monogatari (Tsuruoka City)
Early-March to Early-April
For one month in the spring, Hina dolls and other Hina crafts that were once owned by the Sakai clan are put on display throughout the city.

Sakata Hina Exhibition (Sakata City)
Late-February to Early-March
This is an exhibition of Hina dolls and adorable Udogawara clay dolls that were owned by various aristocratic families, including the Homma family, once the biggest landowner in Japan.

Kasuga Shrine Kinensai
Kurokawa Noh Performance
(Tsuruoka City, Kushibiki District)
March 23rd
This is a performance by the Kurokawa Noh group, which has been designated as a National Intangible Cultural Asset.

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April

Yachi Hina Matsuri (Kahoku Town)
April 2nd and 3rd
This is an opportunity to see the Hina dolls once owned by wealthy merchant families in the Yachi area during the flourishing safflower trade of the Edo period (1603-1868).

Kajo Kanokai Cherry Blossom Viewing
(Yamagata City)
Cherry Blossom Season
The approximately 1,500 sakura trees in Kajo Park, located in the remains of Yamagata Castle, make this the best place to view the cherry blossoms in Yamagata City.

Tsuruoka Sakura Matsuri (Tsuruoka City)
Mid-April
Not only is Tsuruoka Park the best place to view cherry blossoms in Yamagata prefecture, it was selected as one of the top 100 cherry blossom viewing sites in all of Japan. It contains over 800 sakura trees that bloom beautifully in spring, including the popular Somei Yoshino variety.

Sakata Hiyoriyama Matsuri:
Flower Viewing and Tea Party (Sakata City)
Mid- to Late-April
Sakata City’s Hiyoriyama Park was selected as one of the top 100 city parks in Japan, and it boasts over 500 sakura trees, including the popular Somei Yoshino variety.

Human Shogi (Japanese Chess) (Tendo City)
A Saturday and Sunday in April
A human shogi match is held as part of the cherry blossom viewing festivities in Tendo City. People dressed as life sized shogi pieces on an enormous board become warriors who move according to the commands of professional Shogi players in this traditional festival.

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May

Spring Broiled Herring Matsuri (Shinjo City)
April 28th to May 5th
As the snow melts and flowers bloom, the people of Shinjo City celebrate the end of the long winter in this festival, where they eat broiled herring and drink together in the pleasant spring weather.

Yonezawa Uesugi Matsuri (Yonezawa City)
April 29th to May 3rd
At this festival you can join an enormous crowd of excited and cheering spectators to witness a recreation, complete with antique flintlock guns, of the epic battle between 700 members of Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen’s armies that occurred during the Warring States period (1493-1573).

Yakushi Matsuri Gardeners’ Market (Yamagata City)
May 8th to May 10th
Vendors come from all over Japan to sell a wide variety of plants at the famous Gardeners’ Market of the Kokubunji Yakushi Temple Festival.

Sakata Matsuri (Sanno Matsuri) (Sakata City)
May 19th to May 21st
There is a parade of portable shrines and floats on a variety of themes, including the Great Lion that symbolizes Sakata, at this festival.

Tenjin Matsuri (Monster Festival) (Tsuruoka City)
May 25th
This festival of the Tenmangu Shrine is dedicated to Michizane Sugawara, a scholar and politician who lived from 845 to 903. People dress up like monsters and go on parade at this unique festival, which is one of the Three Great Festivals of Shonai.

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June

Sakuranbo Matsuri (Sagae City)
Early-June to Early-July
Sagae City is a major producer of cherries, and the whole town becomes cherry themed during this festival with a wide variety of cherry related events.

Cherry Pit Spitting Grand Prix (Higashine City)
Mid-June
A cherry spitting competition is the main attraction at this event, which also features dance performances and sales of cherries and other local Higashine City produce.

Higashizawa Park Rose Matsuri (Murayama City)
Early-June to Early-July
Over 20,000 roses in over 750 varieties bloom at Higashizawa Park.

Ayame Matsuri (Nagai City)
June 10th to July 10th
There are over a million irises of 500 different varieties in the 3.3 hectacre Ayame Park.

Sakata Ajisai (Sakata City)
Late-June to Early-July
The Iimoriyama Park of the Ken Domon Museum of Photography is famous for its wide variety of hydrangea flowers.

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July

Mt. Gassan Opens (Nishikawa Town)
July 1st
Mt. Gassan, which has the highest peak of the three sacred mountains of Dewa Sanzan, is open to the public starting on this day. The new mountain greenery reflected in snow left over from the winter is beautiful.

Mt. Chokai Opens (Yuza Town)
July 1st
On this day, Mt. Chokai is opened to the public, and there is a prayer ceremony to wish for the safety of mountaineers. The view of the ocean from Mt. Chokai on a clear day is unforgettable.

Kurokawa Noh Outdoor Performance:
Suien no Noh (Tsuruoka City, Kushibiki District)
July 29th
The tradition of Kurokawa Noh theatre has been passed down for over 500 years by Yamagata farmers and is designated as a National Intangible Cultural Asset. Don’t miss this chance to see an outdoor performance of this traditional theatre group.

Sakekawa Kabuki Performance (Sakekawa Village)
July 2nd
This is a performance by the Sakekawa Kabuki theater group. Although its origins are in the Kabuki theatre of the Edo period (1603-1868), Sakekawa Kabuki has since evolved to become its own unique style of traditional Kabuki theatre.

Hijiori Hot Springs Opening Ceremony
(Okura Village)
July 14th
This is the opening ceremony for the Hijori Hot Springs, which were discovered in the year 807 AD.

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August

Sakata Fireworks Show (Sakata City)
The 1st Saturday in August
This is an invigorating fireworks show that combines music and some of the biggest fireworks in Eastern Japan, including the Giant Star Mine.

Yamagata Hanagasa Matsuri (Yamagata City)
August 5th to August 7th
This gorgeous festival brightens up three midsummer nights in Yamagata City, and it has become known as one of the four great festivals of the Japan’s Northeastern Tohoku region.

Akagawa Fireworks Exhibition (Tsuruoka City)
August 10th
Over 12,000 fireworks light up the night sky at this enormous fireworks exhibition.

Murayama Tokunai Matsuri (Murayama City)
Mid-August to Late-August
Children and adults alike create a variety of floats and dance wearing traditional costumes in this festival.

Shinjo Matsuri (Shinjo City)
August 24th to 26th
You can see portable shrines with a rich historical tradition at this festival, which is known for its gorgeous floats.

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September

The Biggest Imoni Festival In Japan
(Yamagata City)
The 1st Sunday of September
It takes an enormous six-foot tall pot to cook enough imoni (beef and taro potato stew) to feed everyone at this event, which symbolizes the coming of fall to the citizens of Yamagata. It truly is The Biggset Imoni Festival in Japan.
boiling sweet potatoes

Sagae Matsuri (Sagae City)
September 9th to 16th
A traditional form of horseback archery from the Kamakura Era (1185-1333) called yabusame takes central stage at this festival of Sakae City’s Hachimangu shrine. In addition to archers in traditional dress, there is even a yabusame archery event that is said to predict the outcome of the coming harvest.

Yachi Donga Matsuri (Kahoku Town)
Mid-September
The procession of a portable shrine and a performance by the Hayashi Buraku traditional dance group, which has been designated a National Intangible Cultural Asset, are among the many events at this festival revolving around Yachi’s Hachimangu Shinto Shrine.

Kaminoyama Onsen All Japan Scarecrow Festival
(Kaminoyama City)
Mid-September
Hundreds of scarecrows in all sorts of shapes and sizes are on display at this exhibition, from traditional scarecrows to imaginative modern designs.

Shirataka Ayu Matsuri (Shirataka Town)
Mid-September to Late-September
Catch young sweetfish from the Mogami River and fry them with salt or skewer them with miso sauce. Sharing a drink with a friend along the Mogami Riverside is unforgettable.

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October

Chokaisan Jinroku Tsunokirisai (Yuza Town)
Early-October
There is a traditional cutting of the deer antlers at this sacred event, which also serves as a prayer ceremony for traffic safety on the Chokai Blue Line Highway.

Nan’yo Chrysanthemum Matsuri (Nan’yo City)
Mid-October to Mid-November
The Nanyo Chrystanthemum Festival boasts the deepest historical, cultural, and artistic tradition of all the chrystanthemum festivals in Japan.

Takahata Winery: Fall Harvest Festival
(Takahata Town)
Early-October to Late-October
Celebrate the fall harvest at the Takahata Winery, where a variety of concerts and other events are held. Don’t forget to try some wine and nabe hot pot cooking.

Mogami Daisangyo Matsuri Produce Festival
(Shinjo City)
2nd Saturday and Sunday in October
Local agriculture and produce from all over the Mogami region is available in one place at this event. Come and experience the taste of autumn.

Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
(Yamagata City)
A Week in Early October in Odd Years –
Next Festival in 2009
See the top documentary films and meet the top documentary filmmakers from around the world at this exciting international film event.

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November

Kaminoyama Chrysanthemum Festival (Kaminoyama City)
October 17th to November 5th
Over 800 chrysanthemums decorate Kaminoyama City’s old castle district during this event.

Bukkoji Choyaku Nenbutsu (Tendo City)
November 17th
Bhuddist priests chant, ring bells, and perform a dance with an over 700 year history at this religious ceremony.

Kurokawa Noh Performance at the Kasuga Shrine Niinamesai (Tsuruoka City, Kushibiki District)
November 23rd
This harvest festival features a performance by the Kurokawa Noh, a traditional theatre group that has been designated a National Intangible Cultural Asset.

Start of the Season at the Tengendai Kogen Ski Area (Yonezawa City)
Late-November
The Tengendai Kogen Ski Area is the first to open in Yamagata Prefecture every year. You can go skiing here starting around late November to get a head start on enjoying the newly fallen powder snow.

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December

Horohado Year End Festival (Yonezawa City)
December 4th
Scantily clad men wake up early to pound rice to make mochi rice cakes at the Sengen Temple.

Takamatsu Kannon Hadaka Mochi Making
(Kaminoyama City)
Mid-December
Scantily clad men make mochi rice cakes at this year-end event that gives thanks for a bountiful harvest and prays for health and safety in the new year.

Dharma Doll Market: Kannon-sama no Otoshiya - Daruma Market
(Tsuruoka City)
December 17th
Shops selling auspicious objects associated with the New Year like Dharma dolls, decorated rakes, and battledore line the Nanoka-machi Kannon-do at this event, which is packed with the hustle and bustle of excited worshippers.

Shoreisai (Tsuruoka City, Haguro District)
December 31st to January 1st
This solemn religious ceremony, also called the New Year’s Eve Festival, is the most important of all the sacred rituals surrounding Mt. Haguro, the spiritual center of the three sacred mountains of the Dewa Sanzan.

Mt. Zao Ice Monster Light Up (Yamagata City)
Late-December to Early-March
The ice monsters of Mt. Zao, trees so covered in snow and ice that that take on bizarre and monstrous shapes, are lit up beautifully during this event. The view from the ropeway at night is surreal.

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

Kurokawa Noo 黒川能 (くろかわのう) Kurokawa Noh
..... Oogi sai 王祗祭（おうぎさい）

黒川能水焔（すいえん）の能

. Kurokawa Noh and related kigo .

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Related words

***** . WKD : Main Index 　

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Kozan-Ji and Saint Myoe

2011-11-12T20:19:00.000-08:00

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Kozanji (Koozanji 高山寺)

***** Location: Kyoto
***** Season: See below
***** Category: Observance

*****************************
Explanation

This temple is most famous for the autumn leaves.

quote
Kozan-ji Temple, being also called as Toganoo-san, belongs to the Shingon school of Buddhism and is dedicated to Shaka Nyorai Buddha. It was registered as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kyoto in 1994.

Primary attraction of this temple would be a national treasure, Sekisui-in building. Replicas of national treasures are displayed in the building. Those are the "Choju Jinbutsu Giga 鳥獣戯画巻", a series of animal caricatures said to have been drawn by Toba Sojo (1053-1140), and
a painting called "Myoe Shonin Jujo Zazen-zu 明恵上人".

Kozan-ji holds a large number of treasures, including about 10,000 Important Cultural Assets as well as eight National Treasures including those mentioned above.

Tradition has it that Kozan-ji was founded in 774 by the order of the Emperor Konin (709-782 光仁天皇), at which time the temple was named "Shingan-ji Togaobo 貞観寺". It is said that the name was changed to Kozan-ji after the temple was revived in 1206 by priest Myoe (1173-1232) as a training hall for reviving the Kegon school of Buddhism by the order of the retired Emperor Gotoba (1180-1239).

Priest Myoe was given a few seeds of tea plant by Zen master Eisai (1141-1215) and planted them in the temple's ground at the beginning of the Kamakura Period (1192-1333), launching the spread of tea cultivation throughout the country. In recognition of this history, tea producers from Uji make an offering of new tea in front of the temple's Shoninbyo mausoleum each year on November 8th.
source : takao/kozanji.htm

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Kozan-Ji, Golden Hall

Jingo-ji houses a diagram of Kōzan-ji that was drawn in 1230, some 20 years after it was constructed. The diagram is registered as an important cultural property, because it shows the original layout of the temple. From the diagram, we know that Kōzan-ji originally consisted of a large gate, a main hall, a three-storied pagoda, a hall dedicated to Amitabha, a hall dedicated to Lohan, a bell tower, a scripture hall, and a Shinto shrine dedicated to the tutelary deity of the area. However, all of these buildings have since been destroyed, save for the scripture hall, which is now known as Sekisui-in.

In addition to Sekisui-in, today's Kōzan-ji also contains a main hall (originally part of Ninna-ji, relocated to Kōzan-ji) and a hall dedicated to the founding of the temple, which houses an important carved wooden bust of Myōe. Both of these buildings, however, are modern reconstructions.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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observance kigo for early winter

Toganoo mushi kuyoo 栂尾虫供養 (とがのおむしくよ)
memorial service for the bugs at Toganoo

On the 12th and 13th of the tenth lunar month (now November)

The farmers from the region would offer prayers to Amida (nenbutsu 念仏講) for the souls of the bugs they had to kill during the rice-growing season.
The ritual was held at temple Koozanji 高山寺 Kozan-Ji, but is not done any more.

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Myoe Shonin 明恵上人 (1173-1232)
Saint Myoo-e, Myooe

was a high-ranking monk of the Kegon Sect of Buddhism and was active in the beginning of the Kamakura period. He was much admired as a priest of virtue for his profound learning and noble deeds. Myoe Shonin was born to a distinguished family in Kii Province (present-day Wakayama and Mie Prefectures). He lost his parents as a child, and went to Kyoto to live with his uncle Jogaku, who was a monk at Jingoji Temple in Mt. Takao. At age 16, he renounced the world and was initiated into Buddhism at Todaiji Temple in Nara, whereupon he took the name Myoebo Joben. From the age of 36, he became known as Koben.

Myoe then returned to his homeland to leave the worldliness of this world and led a rigorous life of religious training in the Yuasa Bay area. During this time, it is said that Myoe attempted to go to India for the love of Buddha, but the deities enshrined in Kasuga Shrine prohibited him from embarking on this trip. With the slogan "Return to Buddha," he tried to proselytize people to the Kegon Sect. In 1206, the retired Emperor Gotoba granted him land in Toganoo that belonged to Jingoji Temple, where he built Kozanji Temple. He was benevolent and loved nature and all living beings. Myoe was a capable calligrapher, too.
A Zen priest named Eisai gave Myoe some tea seedlings, with which Myoe successfully cultivated tea in the hills of Toganoo.

He recorded his dreams for forty years from the age of nineteen through fifty-eight (1191-1230), because he believed that dreaming is a type of learning. The record that he made is
Yume no ki 夢記 (Records of Dreams).

Yume no ki is also known as On-yume no ki or On-yume on-nikki. Originally, Yume no ki comprised 17 scrolls, seven books, and 28 sheets of unbound pages, but two scrolls came to the attention of the public, subsequently called Yume no ki, which are especially treasured.

夢記切（夢記断簡）明恵上人筆

The present piece was written on the 25th day of the tenth month of 1229, when he was 57 years of age. The strokes are vigorous, and white light emanating from a flower vase, symbolizing a goddess of India, is drawn in the margin. Typically he used waste paper back, and illustrated pieces such as the present work are highly valued.
source : Miho Museum

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Monastic Regulations promulgated by Myoe

In the wooden tablet at Kōzan-ji Temple mentioned above, Myoe listed the following regulations to all monks, divided into three sections:

As Appropriate
Ettiquette in the Temple Study Hall
Etiquette in the Buddha-Altar Hall
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. . . . .

こんな蚊が明恵上人を螫しにけむ
konna ka ga Myooe shoonin o sashi ni kemu

this mosquito
comes all the way to bite
Saint Myo-E

. Awano Seiho 阿波野青畝 .

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Statue of Myoe, Seated

Annual Festivals:

The oldest tea house of Japan

The famous scroll of the frolicking animals.
Choojuu-giga scrolls (choju giga) 鳥獣戯画

- Map of the Temple Compound

Homepage of the Temple
source : www.kosanji.com

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Choju Giga Scroll Slide Show
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/

Here is our FROG in an archery contest
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/17.html
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/18.html

Carrying offerings
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/26.html

Frog and wild boar
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/37.html

Chasing the Monkey
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/43.html

Wrestling with the Rabbit
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/53.html
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/56.html

Finally Frog Buddha and the Monkey
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/66.html

This scroll is one of the fore-runners of Japanese Manga !

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

Myoe the Dreamkeeper:
Fantasy and Knowledge
in Early Kamakura Buddhism
George Tanabe

In the Kamakura period, Myoe Shonin (1173-1232) was a leader of Nara Buddhists who sought to revitalize traditional Buddhism in Japan. In his teaching, Myoe specially emphasized the value of the visions that could be achieved through meditation; and in his practice, he kept and occasionally illustrated a diary of his own visions and significant night dreams. The autograph copy of this remarkable document still exists, although some pages have been scattered among collectors.
George J. Tanabe, Jr., here presents in English the most comprehensive compilation of the diary in any language. Moreover, his study of Myoe's life and teachings provides both a context within which the diary can be understood and a view of the often doctrinally contentious world of Kamakura Buddhism.
source :　www.amazon.com

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HAIKU

高山寺楓の芽吹きはじまれり
Koozanji kaede no mebuki hajimareri

temple Kozan-Ji -
the maple trees just beginning
to bud

Fujisaka Komeko 藤坂込め子

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石段をよぎる雉子あり高山寺
ishidan o yokogiru kiji ari Koozanji

there is a pheasant
crossing the stone steps -
temple Kozan-Ji

Nomura Hakugetsu 野村泊月 (1882 - 1961)

More haiku about this temple

お茶の実がしんしん冷ゆる高山寺高澤良一宿好
ハンケチを捩ぢて憩へり高山寺川崎展宏
一頻り萩刈る音か高山寺高澤良一宿好
子鴉の今日から鳴くや高山寺大峯あきら宇宙塵
旅びとに斎の柚味噌や高山寺水原秋櫻子
水引がすいと目に入る高山寺高澤良一宿好

老鶯や峯より晴れて高山寺川澄祐勝
萩萌えて戯画の鳥獣親しくす(高山寺) 河野南畦
虫たべに来て鳥涼し高山寺宇佐美魚目天地存問
雛の軸かけて栂尾高山寺大石悦子群萌

高山寺ちひさき蛇にあひにけり(栂尾) 細川加賀
高山寺夏の雨きて縁ぬらす安養白翠
高山寺雲の下り来し茶を摘めり河前隆三

source :　HAIKUreikuDB

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observance kigo for the New Year

Shari-Koo 舎利講 Prayer Meeting for Buddha's bones

January 15
At temples of the Shingon Sect.
It was introduced by Saint Myoe.

SAIJIKI – NEW YEAR OBSERVANCES

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Related words

***** . Saints and their Memorial Days . 　

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Kofukuji Nara

2011-11-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

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Temple Kofuku-Ji

***** Location: Nara
***** Season: See below
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

quote
Kōfuku-ji (興福寺, Kōfuku-ji)
is a Buddhist temple in the city of Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The temple is the national headquarters of the Hosso(“Dharma characteristics”) sect and is one of the eight Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Hosso sect is also known as the yuishiki(“mind only”) sect. The teaching was first brought to China from India by the T'ang Dynasty monk Genjo, whose travels are well known from his journal entitled “Travels to the West". Genjo transmitted the Hosso teachings, as found in the Yuishiki-ron (“Treatise on Mind Only”), to his disciple Jion Daishi,who is considered the founder of the Hosso school in China. These doctrines were introduced to Kofukuji by the monk Genbo (d. 746), who studied in China from 716-735.

Kōfuku-ji has its origin as a temple that was established in 669 by Kagami-no-Ōkimi (鏡大君), the wife of Fujiwara no Kamatari, wishing for her husbands’s recovery from illness. Its original site was in Yamashina, Yamashiro Province (present-day Kyoto). In 672, the temple was moved to Fujiwara-kyō, the first artificially planned capital in Japan, then again in 710, moved to its current place, on the east side of the newly constructed capital, Heijō-kyō, today's Nara.

Kōfuku-ji was the Fujiwara's tutelary temple, and enjoyed as much prosperty, and as long as the family did. The temple was not only an important center for the Buddhist religion, but also retained influence over the imperial government, and even by "aggressive means" in some cases. When many of the Nanto Shichi Daiji such as Tōdai-ji -declined after the move of capital to Heian-kyō (Kyoto), Kōfuku-ji kept its significance because of its connection to the Fujiwara. The temple was damaged and destroyed by civil wars and fires many times, and was rebuilt as many times as well, although finally some of the important buildings, such as two of the three golden halls, the nandaimon, chūmon and the corridor were never reconstructed and are missing today.

Tōkon-dō (East Golden Hall) (東金堂), 1425
Five-storied pagoda (五重塔, gojū-no-tō), 1426
Three-storied pagoda (三重塔, sanjū-no-tō), 1185-1274
Hoku'en-dō (North Octagonal Hall) (北円堂),1210
Nan'en-dō (South Octagonal Hall) (南円堂), 1741
Ōyūya (Bath House) (大湯屋) 1394-1427

source : Wikipedia

Kofuku-Ji, Architecture and Buddhist Sculptures
- Mark Schumacher -

The most famous statue of an Ashura is at the temple Kofuku-jiin Nara.
. Ashura, Asura (あしゅら) 阿修羅 .

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kigo for late spring

Koofukuji Monju e 興福寺文殊会 (こうふくじもんじゅえ)
ceremony for Monju Bosatsu at temple Kofuku-Ji

April 25

Children in old costumes parade around the compound.
People attend with the wish for better learning and a good career for their children.

CLICK for more photos !

Monju represents wisdom, intelligence, learning and willpower.
. Monju Bosatsu 文殊菩薩　Manjushri .

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kigo for early winter

Koofukuji hokke e 興福寺法華会 (こうふくじほっけえ)
ceremony of the Lotus Sutra at temple Kofuku-Ji

On the 6th day of the 10th lunar month (now in November)
At the South Octagonal Hall, reading the Lotus Sutra.
In memoriam of Fujiwara Uchimaro 藤原内麻呂
(756 - October 6, 812 (lunar calendar, now November 13).
He was the father of Fujiwara Fuyutsugu 藤原冬嗣 (775 - 826).

Hokkekyoo, Hokekyoo 法華経; Saddharma-pundariika-suutra

The Lotus Sutra, Hokke-kyoo　法華経、describes various deities as Bosatsu concerned with light offerings.

Jookoobutsu定光仏
Toomyoobutsu燈明仏
Niman Toomyoobutsu二萬燈明仏
Sanman Toomyoobutsu三萬燈明仏
Nichi-gatsu Toomyoobutsu日月燈明仏, the Sun and Moon Light Offering Buddhas
Myookoo Bosatsu妙光菩薩

. Light Offering Bosatsu .

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Yuima E 維摩会 (ゆいまえ) ceremony for Yuima
Koofukuji Yuima e 興福寺維摩会（こうふくじゆいまえ）
..... Joomyoo e 浄名会（じょうみょうえ）
(Jomyo is another name fro Yuima, Vimalakirti.)

From the10th to the 16th day of the 10th lunar month (now November)
Ceremonies in honor of Yuima.

Fujiwara Kamatari 藤原鎌足 named his villa in Yamashina "Yamashina Temple 山階寺 " and there begun to teach his vasalls about Yuima.
Together with
Go Sai E, Mi Sai E 御斎会 (seven days from Januray 8) and
Saijoo E 最勝会 (seven days from March 7),
this is one of the three great ceremonies at Kofuku-Ji.

Yuima Koji, a wealthy Indian who sought solace in Buddhism, was regarded in China as a paragon of virtue. He is often regarded as the first Zen Buddhist Master. His disupte with Monju Bosatsu Manjushri has often been depicted. His popularity here stemmed from the balance he made between disengagement with worldly attachments and family responsibility, a trait highly valued in the country. Ryukei I himself tried to closely follow Koji's example.
. Sculptor Shimizu Ryukei 清水隆慶 .

quote
Yuima Koji (Vimalakirti) 維摩居士(ゆいまこじ)
Laienbuddhist aus Vaisali, Indien.
Er war ein sehr gelehrter Mann. Als er krank lag, erschien Monju, der Bosatsu der höchsten Weisheit, und beide diskutierten mit~einander. Dabei soll Yuima durch paradoxe Aussprüche (z.B. "Schweigen wie ein Donnerschlag") das innerste Wesen des Buddhismus beschrieben und sich dem Monju überlegen erwiesen haben. Vimalakirti verkörpert eine Laienfigur. Er ist kein Priester und kein Mönch. Seine Person wird in vielen Reliefs und Gemälden als ganz normaler Mann dargestellt. Der Disput mit Monju ist im Sutra Yuimakyoo festgehalten.

Abbildungen dieser Szene finden sich in den Wandgemälden der Höhlentempel in Dun Huang in China und im Tempel Horyuuji, Nara.

- Buddhastatuen ... Who is Who
Ein Wegweiser zur Ikonografie
von japanischen Buddhastatuen
Gabi Greve

Vimalakirti debating Manjusri

- Reference : Vimalakirti

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

Amulets from Kofuku-Ji

for a happy family

for traffic safety　交通安全

clover for good luck クローバー

Homepage of Kohfuku-Ji Temple Complex

February, on Setsubun Day: Demon Chasing Ceremony; Eastern Golden Holl.
February 15: Nirvana Ceremony (in commemoration of the death of the Buddha)
March 5 : Ceremony in Memorial of Genjo; Main office complex.
April 8 : Buddha's Birthday Ceremony; Southern Octagnal Hall.
April 17 : Life Releasing Ceremony; Hitokoto-Kannon Hall.
April 25 : Manjusri Ceremony; Eastern Golden Holl,
May 11/12 : Takigi Noh drama; Southern Main Gate.
July 7 : Benzaiten Festival; Three Storied Pagoda.
October 17 : Daihannya Ceremony; Southern Octagonal Hall.
November 13 : Ceremony in Memorial of Jion Daishi　慈恩大師; Kari-kondo.

source : www.kohfukuji.com

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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HAIKU

秋風や囲ひもなしに興福寺
akikaze ya kakoi mo nashi ni Koofukuji

autumn wind -
temple Kofuku-Ji
without a fence

Masaoka Shiki

右京左京中は畑なり秋の風

般若寺の釣鐘細し秋の風

無住寺に荒れたきままの野分哉

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Related words

***** . WKD : Place Names used in Haiku 　

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Osorezan Festival

2011-10-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

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Osorezan Big Festival (Osorezan taisai)

***** Location: Aomori
***** Season: Late summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Osorezan Taisai 恐山大祭 (おそれざんたいさい)
Great Festival at Mount Osorezan
Osorezan Grand Festival

itako いたこ Itako medium, female shaman
itako ichi いたこ市（いたこいち） Itako market

July 22 to 24

During the main festival in summer, many people come to get in contact with their lost loved ones through the blind Itako shamans.

The Osorezan access is open from May 1st to the end of October.
This region is one of the three most sacred places in Japan,
with Koyasan and Heizan.

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I visited Osorezan many years ago.
I will try to tell you more about our encounter with the Itako in my report below.

. The Hot Spring (onsen 温泉) at Osorezan .

Lake Usorisan 宇曽利山湖
. Look at more of my photos !

Pilgrims also come here in autumn

Osorezan Aki Mairi 恐山秋参り.

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Mount Osore (恐山, Osorezan)
is a region in the center of remote Shimokita Peninsula of Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

According to popular mythology, Mount Osore (literally "Mount Fear") marks the entrance to Hell, with a small brook running to the neighboring Lake Usorisan that is equated to the Sanzu River, the Japanese equivalent to Styx. The reputation is not surprising, given that the very volcanically-active site is a charred landscape of blasted rock filled with bubbling pits of unearthly hues and noxious fumes.

The Bodai temple (菩提寺, Bodaiji) presides over it all and organizes the area's main event, the twice-yearly Itako Taisai festival. The grand festival is held over a period of five days beginning on July 20. In a ritual called kuchiyose (口寄せ), blind mediums known as itako claim to summon the souls of the dead and deliver messages in their voices.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

People lining up for the kuchiyose.
口寄せ = Geisterbeschwörung,
„Herbeirufung des Mundes“.

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Here are more of the details, please read Mark first and then come back:

Sai no Kawara, the Limbo for Children
The Role of Jizo Bosatsu in Saving Lost Souls
Mountain of the Dead, 霊場恐山
Hotoke-ga-Ura
source : Mark Schumacher

Some literature

Schattschneider, Ellen. "Buy me a Bride: Death and Exchange in
Northern Japanese Bride Doll Marriage." American Ethnologist 28.4
(2001): 854-80. - Wedding Dolls

"Family resemblances: Memorial Images and the Face of Kinship."
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31.1 (2004): 141-62.

"The Bloodstained Doll: Violence and the Gift in Wartime Japan."
Forthcoming in the Journal of Japanese Studies.

See also "The Mystery of the Mascot Dolls"at
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/history/doll/

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remote sai no kawara in Tohoku

In Shinto mythology
the story goes that between life and death there flows a river.
This river is called Sai no Kawara 賽の河原 (translated it means Sai [Childrens Limbo; Limbo means a region on the border of hell or heaven, serving as the abode after death of unbaptized infants.] Kawara [riverside].
According to Shinto belief, children do not go to heaven or hell, but the souls of the dead babies play on the banks of this river, Sai no Kawara. And one of the things they have to do as their Duty (penance) there, is to stack up pebbles, and build little towers.

However, while doing so, a naughty, horrible devil usually appears who disturbs their playing, breaks their towers up, and scares them. And, it is here where the long sleeves of Jizos robe comes in handy. Because Jizo is the god who protects children, and he does not fail to protect them there on the banks of the Sai no Kawara. So when scared by this devil, they all jump into the sleeve of Jizos robe, where they hide and feel safe and warm. It is said that in the old days, some of the Jizo statues were covered in pebbles from people who stacked the pebbles in front of the Jizo, because it is believed, that for every tower of pebbles you build on earth, you help the souls of the dead children to perform their duty there on the Sai no Kawara.

Wedding Dolls for the Dead

Kokeshi and Infanticide in Japan

. Sai no Kawara, the Limbo for Children .

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The female Itako Shamans of Osorezan イタコ

They are a phenomen in themselves during the festival.
I have had one of these itako shamans call up my dead father from Germany. After a long preparation with prayers and incense, she got the contact. But my father talked through the medium, but in the almost non-understandable dialect of Tsugaru. We did not dare interrupt her. After about 30 minutes all was over.
We got the advise to take good care of his grandchildren (we do not have any children), and I should take care to take a cold in the coming winter.

That is me in front of her tent, you can even see the tip of our car.

The itako later told us, she once had foreigners asking for her service, but they interrupted her twice to ask for a translation into normal Japanese ... by the time the spirit had left her and no advise from the other realm was given to them.

It took her a long time of apprenticeship to become an itako, with water ablutions in the middle of the cold Tohoku winter while she was only 12 years old, and studying with the priests at this temple, on how best to soothe the pain of the living, who lost a loved family member. She has a set of "advise" for the most common losses, like father, mother or a child. Also her "advise" through the kuchiyose seance depends on the time between the loss and the visit to her. She has a home on the Tsugaru peninsula where she spends a quiet winter and sits in her tent here in Osorezan during most of the summer, living a frugal life in the temple compound.

The itako play an important role in connecting the dead with their grieving relatives and provide relief by telling them the dead soul wants this or that, which the relatives can provide as an offering in the temple and feel much better afterwards. The provision of brides as wedding dolls for young men, who were lost at sea or during other accidents, is one example of solace for the berieved parents.

quote
Daily Yomiuri: Why are most itako women?
Sasaki:
There are various explanations. While male shamans are common in China and Southeast Asia, female shamans are more prevalent in India, North and South Korea, and Japan, where societies are based on patriarchal values. I think shamans tend to be female in societies where women are suppressed or discriminated against as an inferior gender. By associating themselves with the gods, women are able to balance their power with men in such societies.

Japanese used to believe that the gods offered mercy to those in misery, especially Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. She is one of the most commonly believed-in gods among itako. I have seen noseless yuta shamans in Okinawa Prefecture. Such physical defects used to be interpreted as symbolic of supernaturalstigmata.

The oldest reference to female shamans in Japan appears in the Wei Zhi, a Chinese chronicle of the third century. A woman called Himiko, who is described as a shaman, ruled an early Japanese political federation known as Yamatai using a divine power to converse with the gods.
The first reference to female shamans in Japanese writing dates backto the 11th entury.

What religion do itako believe in?
How is the initiation ceremony carried out?
Why haven't itako been respected in the same way as priests?
How can you verify that an itako has really entered a trance?

Daily Yomiuri: Can itako contribute to the well-being of modern people?
Sasaki:
Shamanism can help make up for weaknesses of modern culture by providing relief for people in extreme suffering and pain, making fuller use of people's daily lives and keeping society and culture intact. Shamanism fills some of the spaces left open by modern rationalism and science.

Read the details here :
source : Miki Fujii for The Yomiuri Shimbun

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Hotoke-ga-ura　仏が浦

seen from above, on the way down

This is the most western part of the Osorezan Buddhist world, from here the souls take off directly to the Paradise in the West. The rough mountains look like Buddha statues and a huge area is reserved for the dead children.

cliffs like Buddhas

a cave for the final prayer

. More photos in my album .

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

quote
Zu den mizuko, bzw. den mabiki-ko, den umgebrachten Säuglingen, und ihren roten Lätzchen habe ich in einem Tempel folgende Erklärung gehört: Jizō hat gelobt, alle Kinder aus der Vorhölle zu retten. Weil Kinder noch keine Sünden begangen haben, kommen sie nämlich nicht direkt in die Hölle, das wäre ja ungerecht. Aber sie müssen am Grenzfluss warten und während dieser Zeit Steine aufeinander schichten. Das ist ähnlich wie Sisyphos. Sie warten so lange, bis keiner mehr um sie trauert. Die Mutter bindet also eines der Kinderlätzchen zu einem Jizō und bittet, durch den Geruch des Lätzchens das Kind in der Vorhölle zu identifizieren und zum Paradies zu bringen.

Wenn die Mutter früher, in der Edo-Zeit zu lange trauerte, konnte sie nicht genug im Haus und am Feld arbeiten. Daher wurde ihr eine Periode von 7 Tagen nach dem Tod eines Kindes (nicht bei Abtreibung, aber bei mabiki, dem Töten eines weiblichen Säuglings) gegönnt. Danach musste sie die Sachen des Kindes, Lätzchen und Spielzeug, bei Jizo „abgeben“ und die Trauerzeit war vorüber, Mutter musste wieder arbeiten gehen! Eine recht diesseitliche Religionsbenutzung.

Um den Iwaki-san in Nordjapan werden verstorbene Kinder zu ihrem 20. Geburtstag verheiratet. Die Tempel verkaufen ca. 50 cm große Puppen von Bräuten oder Bräutigamen, die dann mit dem toten Kind „verheiratet“ werden. Das macht die Eltern froh und die Tempel reich. Es ist erstaunlich, dort in so einer Halle mit tausenden von Hochzeits-Puppen zu stehen! Die Itako-Shamaninnen am Osore-Berg reden den Eltern auch noch manch anderes ein — so werden Tennisschuhe und Fahrräder oder Frack und Regenmantel gespendet, manche Tempel sehen aus wie Altwarenhändler.

Dr. Gabriele Greve
source : www.univie.ac.at

presents for the dead

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HAIKU

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Related words

***** . WKD : Main Index 　

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Suhotei Yamaguchi

2011-10-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

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Suhotei Festival (Suppootei matsuri )

***** Location: Yamaguchi
***** Season: Early Autumn
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Suppootei Matsuri 数方庭祭 (すっぽうていまつり)
Suhotei Festival
also read
zuootei　ずおうてい　/ suhooden　すほうでん / suhootei すほうてい

at the shrine Iminomiya Jinja in Yamaguchi
忌宮神社, 山口県下関市長府宮の内町１－１８

August 7 to 13

This is the oldest shrine in the city of Chofu.
Chofu is about 8 km northeast of Shimonoseki.
The shrine was built in 646, when the local government was set up in this region.
The whole region was under the governance of the Mori family of Yamaguchi for a long time to come in the Edo period.

This is the most important and remarkable festival in Chofu town.

Rituals are held every night during the festival in August. The participants balance long bamboo poles of more than 20 meters with attached banners around a large stone (demon stone 鬼石 oni ishi ) in the shrine compound.

source :　iminomiya.htm

Accompanying musicians with drums and gongs provide the rythm and sound, while the carriers shout "Wawassei, wawassei" ワワセイ　ワワセイ.

quote
This "Jinja" has a long history. It is said that the historic shrine was built around 200 A.D. by the legendary Empress Jingû to commemorate the death of her husband, Emperor Chûai.

Innomiya Jinja hosts a unique festival "Suhôtei Matsuri" which was designated by Yamaguchi Prefecture as intangible cultural property. Every year, between August 7 and 13, local people gather at the shrine to walk around a giant stone with very tall bamboo labrums attached to their body. This year, about 200 people participated the festival (besides a lot of spectators) and the tallest labarums was 30m high, and weighed 100kg...

... the matsuri also dates back to the 2nd century. The curious rite is said to imitate the victory dance after central Japan-based Yamato government's win against allied forces of south Japan-based Kumaso and then eastern Korea-based Silla, which attacked from the air, riding black cloud.
The emperor Chûai played the central role in that war, legend says. People used to use pikes and fauchards, but they were replaced by bamboo at the end of 18th century by order of the feudal lord.
source : kyokuyoshipyard.com

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Main festivals at Iminomiya Shrine:
January 15th: Bushasai Festival
March 28th: Sanshu-sai Festival
April 3rd: Island Festival
August 7th-13th: Suhoteisai Festival
November 3rd: Mikka-sumo
December 7th-15th: Oimi-sai Festival

source : www.iminomiya-jinjya.com

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source : encoo.fc2web.com

Ema votive tablet for Shichi-Go-San
Festival for Children in November

kootsuu anzen 交通安全ステッカー Amulet for traffic safety

kaiun yakuyoke 開運厄除御守 for good luck
and avoiding evil influence

hada mamori 肌守り amulet to keep on your skin
for protection from evil

MORE amulets from this shrine
source : iminomiya-jinjya.com

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Festivals of Shimonoseki Town
source : www.city.shimonoseki

Summer Events in Shimonoseki
source : pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp

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HAIKU

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Related words

***** . Shichigosan (shichi go san) Seven-Five-Three Festival 　

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Atago Shrines

2011-10-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

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Atago Shrines in Japan

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Mount Atago Yama 愛宕山 / 阿多古 is a mountain of about 920 meters in the North-West of Kyoto. It is the location of a shrine and temple in this name.
Atago shrine in Kyoto is the most important one.

There are various mountains, shrines and temples of this name in other parts of Japan, many in Western Japan.

The Atago shrine in Itami, Hyogo, is especially related to Haiku.

Atago Gongen (愛宕権現)
is a Japanese kami believed to be the local avatar (Gongen) of Buddhist bodhisattva Jizo Bosatsu. The cult originated in Shugendō practices on Mount Atago in Kyoto, and Atago Gongen is worshiped as a protector against fire.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Atago Jinja (愛宕神社)
is a Shinto shrine on Mount Atago, Kameoka, to the northwest of Kyoto.
Enshrined is Atago Gongen who protects Kyoto from fire.
Shugendō practices and a place for worship are known from the eighth century.The late-Kamakura period Honden has been designated an Important Cultural Property.

Atago Jinja is the head of nine hundred Atago shrines throughout Japan.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

The mountain is the first to receive the morning sun in Kyoto.

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As a shrine dedicated to the deity of fire,
they sell amulets for fire prevention and protection:

hi no yoojin 火迺要慎 "beware of fire"

These amulets are placed in the kitchen and can be found in most homes and kitchens in Kyoto.

The white wild boar 白猪 (shirai, shira-i) is a messenger of the fire deity.
It is celebrated on the forth day of the second month.

More photos and amulets on the Japanese HP of the shrine:
source : kyoto-atago.jp

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In the year 1582 in May, shortly before his coup against Oda Nobunaga, his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide 明智光秀 spent some time at this shrine. He was with a group composing renku, linked verse. The first poem was by Mitsuhide, the second one by a priest from temple Itokuin, Gyooyuu Hooin 行祐法印, the third by the master renku poet Satomura Jooha 里村紹巴 (1525 - 1602).
There were altogether 9 people, composing 100 verse, called the
100 verses from Atago 愛宕百韻 Atago Hyakuin.
The paper with all the verses was offered to the deities in respect.

Here is the famous first poem by Mitsuhide

ときは今あめが下しる五月哉
toki wa ima ame ga shitashiru satsuki kana

the time is now
rain falls now
in the fifth lunar month

(This can be read as a pun:
土岐は今天が下治る皐月かな
Toki is the name of the family of Mitsuhide. The meaning could be
"Toki shall now rule the realm under the sky."

Reference : kyoto-atago.jp akechi

More about the coup of Mitsuhide at Honnoji
. Wikipedia .

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Atago shrine in Tokyo
東京都港区愛宕 1-5-3

It was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu to prevent fires in the city. The shrine is on a small mountain of only 26 meters hight. The very steep stairs leading to the shrine are also famous, as they represent success in life.

The main deity is
Homusubi no mikoto 火産霊命 Deity of Fire
. . . and
Mizuhanome no mikoto 罔象女命（水の神） Deity of Water
Ooyamazumi no mikoto 大山祇命（山の神） Deity of Mountains
Yamato Takeru 日本武尊（武徳の神）Deity of the Samurai
More in the Wikipedia

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Akibagongen 秋葉権現 and Izuna Atago
Since Akiba Gongen is also believed to have originated in the Mt. Izuna and Togakushi area, the two deities are obviously closely related. Since the Buddhist counterpart (honji or "original essence"; see honji suijaku) of Izuna Gongen is said to be the bodhisattva Jizō (Sk. Ksitigarbha), the cult displays a mutual influence with the Atago cult (which involved an amalgamation with Shōgun Jizō or "Jizō of victory").
As a result, the deities are often referred to by the conjoined name Izuna-Atago.

. Izuna Gongen, Iizuna no Gongen 飯網の権現 .

. Amulet to win a battle - Shogun Jizo .

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Kankosai 還幸祭 Festival of Welcoming the Gods
Saga Matsuri 嵯峨祭 Shrine Nonomiya Jinja 野宮神社,
Atago Jinja, Kyoto 愛宕神社（京都市右京区)
Fourth Sunday in May

. Naked Festivals of Japan .

悪態まつり（茨城県笠間市、愛宕神社）
Akutai Matsuri "cursing festival"
Kasama Town, Atago Jinja

. Kisai 奇祭 special festivals .

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Hatsu Atago 初愛宕 (はつあたご) First visit to Atago
kigo for the New Year

Ceremony at Atago, Atago no shinji
愛宕の神事（あたごのしんじ）
Messenger from Atago, Atago no tsukai
愛宕の使（あたごのつかい）
. . . o-koto no tsukai お事の使（おことのつかい）

The details are here:
. Bishamonten and Atago .

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Atago no sennichi moode 愛宕の千日詣
(あたごのせんにちもうで)
1000 days pilgrimage at Atago
kigo for late summer

The official name is
sennichi tsuuyasai 千日通夜祭 "1000 days in one night".
It lasts from the night of July 21 to the early morning of August 8. People who visit during this time will be protected from fire for 1000 days.
The climb up to the mountain shrine is about 4 km long and lit by torches during the night.
Special buses and trains are run during the night to bring all the visitors.

at 9 in the evening of July 31
yuumikesai 夕御饌祭 "dinner for the deities"
the yamabushi make a purifying bonfire (gomataki ゴマ焚き神事)

at 2 in the morning of August 1
asamikesai 朝御饌祭 "breakfast for the deities"
Dance of the head priest, rituals to appease the fire

Look at some more photos from the shrine:
source : sentimairi4.htm

. WKD : Summer Ceremonies .

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Atagobi 愛宕火 (あたごび ) "fire at Atago"
kigo for early autumn

This relates to the Atago shrine at Itami.
On the 24th of the seventh lunar month people put up lanterns and lit candles in rituals for the souls of the departed ancestors during O-Bon. Big torches were also carried around and thrown into the fire.
In the region o Setzu (now Hyogo and Northern Osaka) there were many Atago shrines.
At the Atago mountain in Kyoto it was a custom to throw simple clay dishes (kawarake) from the mountain to make a wish come true. The haiku is a combination of the two events.

Thrown from the 25th station on the way up

あたご火のかはらけなげや伊丹坂
Atagobi no kawarake-nage ya Itamizaka

Atago-fire
and the dish-throwing ritual -
Itami slope

. Ihara Saikaku, Ibara Saikaku 井原西鶴 .

source : zouhai.com

. . . CLICK here for Photos of dish-throwing !

Throwing hooroku plates from temple Mibudera
. Hooroku Jizo ほうろく地蔵 .

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Things found on the way

goma seihai 護摩聖灰　sacred ashes from a Goma fire ritual
. Fukagawa Fudo Do (Fudoo Doo) 深川不動堂 .
Amulets are hung up at the ceiling of the home to prevent fire.
Tokyo

. Musaigai 無災害お守り amulets against fire .

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HAIKU

秋深く友と登りし愛宕山　
aki fukaku tomo to noborishi Atagoyama　　

autumn deepens -
with a friend I climb up to
Mount Atago
　　　
Antoo 安東

. . . . .

枯れ梢　愛宕の山は　下紅葉　　　　
Morikawa 森川

落ち葉踏み清滝からの愛宕山　
秋深く友と登りし愛宕山　　　
師走月念願叶い愛宕山　　　　　　
Antoo 安東

秋去りぬハッパ踏みふみ愛宕山　　
Kiyomizu 清水

霧こもる愛宕の山に冬近し　
かんさびし愛宕の杉に木枯らしのあと
Tokunaga 徳永

source : kunistok

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Related words

***** . Fire (kaji　火事) .

***** . Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Heian Matsuri

2011-10-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

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Heian Festival (Heian matsuri)

***** Location: Kyoto
***** Season: Late Autumn
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Heian matsuri 平安祭（へいあんまつり）Heian festival
Jidai matsuri 時代祭 (じだいまつり) "Festival of the Ages"

October 22

The central event in the festival is the Jidai Gyoretsu, a resplendent procession. In the procession, participants wear costumes representing the styles of each historical period starting with 1868 when the capital was transferred from Kyoto to Tokyo and going backward to 794 when the capital was moved to Kyoto.

Led by a gallet fife and drum corps, the sumptuous and gorgeous procession comprises about 2,000 people and extends for about 2 km (1.24 miles). The spectacle also includes the charming junior geisha (maiko) and women dressed in the beautiful kimono of the imperial court. Proceeding along a 4.5km (2.8 miles) route (Miyako-Oji) from the Kyoto Imperial Garden to Heian Shrine, the parade lasts for nearly five hours.
source :　web-japan.org

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The Heian period (平安時代, Heian jidai)
is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185.[1] The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height. The Heian period is also considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature. Although the Imperial House of Japan had power on the surface, the real power was in the hands of the Fujiwara clan, a powerful aristocratic family who had intermarried with the Emperor of Japan.
Heian (平安) means "peace and tranquility" in Japanese.
Buddhism began to spread throughout Japan during the Heian period, primarily through two major esoteric sects, Tendai and Shingon.

Literature
Although written Chinese (Kanbun) remained the official language of the Heian period imperial court, the introduction and wide use of kana saw a boom in Japanese literature. Despite the establishment of several new literary genres such as the novel and narrative monogatari (物語) and essays, literacy was only common among the court and Buddhist clergy.

The lyrics of the modern Japanese national anthem, Kimi ga Yo, were written in the Heian period, as was The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, one of the first novels ever written. Murasaki Shikibu's contemporary and rival Sei Shōnagon's revealing observations and musings as an attendant in the Empress' court were recorded collectively as The Pillow Book in the 990s, which revealed the quotidian capital lifestyle. The Heian period produced a flowering of poetry including works of Ariwara no Narihira, Ono no Komachi, Izumi Shikibu, Murasaki Shikibu, Saigyō and Fujiwara no Teika.
The famous Japanese poem known as the Iroha (いろは), of uncertain authorship, was also written during the Heian period.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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quote
Kyoto holds "Festival of the Ages"
October 22, 2011

A parade of 2,000 people wearing Japanese costumes from various historical periods was held in Kyoto on Sunday.
A crowd of about 50,000 watched the procession along a 4.5-kilometer course from the Kyoto Imperial Palace to the Heian Shrine.
The Jidai Matsuri is one of the city's 3 biggest festivals. It started in 1895 when Kyoto celebrated the 1,100th anniversary of its founding in the Heian period.
Sunday's parade was led by a military band dressed in the style of the Meiji era in the late 19th century. The next group represented the popular revolutionaries who helped organize the Meiji Restoration in the closing days of the Edo period, which ended in 1867.
At the end of the parade were women in elaborate costumes from the Heian period.

Survivors of the March 11th disaster who are living in Kyoto were invited to watch the parade.
A woman said she had to evacuate her hometown in Fukushima Prefecture because of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant, but the beautiful parade made her feel less homesick.
source : NHK news 2011

. Japan after the BIG earthquake March 11, 2011　.

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HAIKU

腰細の時代祭のやっこかな
koshiboso no jidai matsuri no yakko kana

the slender waist
of a court lady -
Festival of the Ages

時代ごと衣の変わりゆく秋の暮れ
jidai goto i no kawari-yuku aki no kure

with each period
the robes also change -
end of autumn

And some more by Kusa Wakaba
source : 草若葉

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Hie Shrine Festival Sanno

2011-07-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

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Hie Shrine Festival (Hie Jinja Sairei)

***** Location: Tokyo
***** Season: Mid-Summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Hie Jinja sairei 日枝神社祭礼 (ひえじんじゃさいれい)
main festival at Hie shrine
Sannoo matsuri 山王祭（さんのうまつり）Sanno festival
tenka matsuri 天下祭（てんかまつり）"greatest festival under the sky"
(Festival where even the Shogun (Tenka) comes to visit)

June 14 to June 16
June 16 is the main festival day.

The parade of this festival was so well loved in Edo that even the Shogun came to visit.
Even today, more than 5000 people with floats and portable mikoshi take place.
On the high floats all kinds of historical persons are seated in spectacular robes.
In 1889, the parade included 100 huge floats.

The parade walks from Hibiya park toward the Imperial Palace (the former seat of the Shogun).

Hie Shrine, also called Hiyoshi Shrine.

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quote
The Hie Jinja Shrine (Tokyo) is dedicated to Sanno Gongen (山王権現), which translates literally as "Mountain King Avatar" of Sannoo, the deity who dwells on Mt. Hiei between Kyoto and Lake Biwa.
This is also the home mountain of the Japanese Tendai Sect. Many of Japan's 3,800 Hie Jinja shrines are built in proximity to Tendai temples, and serve to protect these temples. The monkeys -- especially the female -- are considered the patrons of harmonious marriage and safe childbirth.

SANNO GONGEN 山王権現
SARUGAMI 猿神
Monkeys are patrons of harmonious marriage and safe childbirth at some of the 3,800 Hie Jinja shrines in Japan. ... The monkey is Sannou's Shinto messenger (tsukai 使い) and Buddhist avatar (gongen 権現).
Sarugami is the Shinto deity to whom the three monkeys (hear, speak, see no evil) are reportedly faithful.
source : Mark Schumacher

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Look at some splendid photos !
source : wadaphoto.jp

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HAIKU

我らまで天下祭や山車ぐるま　　
warera made tenkasai ya dashiguruma

we are all part
of this tenka festival -
these huge floats

. Enomoto Kikaku 榎本其角
Takarai Kikaku 宝井其角 . (1661-1707)

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Related words

***** . Sannoo matsuri 山王祭 (さんのうまつり) Sanno Festival
Hiyoshi matsuri 日吉祭（ひよしまつり） Hiyoshi festival
at Hiyoshi Taisha in Otsu, Shiga.

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Sapporo Festival

2011-07-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

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Sapporo Festival (Sapporo matsuri)

***** Location: Sapporo, Hokkaido
***** Season: Mid-Summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Sapporo matsuri 札幌祭 (さっぽろまつり)
Sapporo festival

June 14 - 17

Main festival at the shrine Hokkaido Jingu 北海道神宮.

This shrine was built by the early settlers during the Meiji period to pray for a safe harvest and stable life conditions in the snowy country.

Now the winter festival of the city is much more popular.

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. Sapporo Snow Festival
Sapporo yukimatsuri 札幌雪まつり
Das Schneefest von Sapporo

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quote
The Hokkaidō Shrine (北海道神宮, Hokkaidō Jingū)
is a Shinto shrine located in Sapporo, Japan. Sited in Maruyama Park, Chūō-ku, Sapporo, the Hokkaido Shrine enshrines four kami including the soul of the Emperor Meiji. A number of contributors of the Exploration in Hokkaidō such as Mamiya Rinzō are also enshrined.

In 1869, by an order of the Emperor Meiji, a ceremony to enshrine three kami (Shinto deities); Ōkunitama, Ōkuninushi, and Sukunahikona, was held in Tokyo. They were enshrined as the three deities of the Hokkaido reclamation (開拓三神, Kaitaku Sanjin), and they were later moved to Sapporo by officers in the Kaitakushi, the previous government of Hokkaidō prefecture.

An interim building of the shrine for three kami was constructed in 1870 in Sapporo, although its location was different from the current point where the Hokkaidō Shrine stands. In 1871, the shrine was erected to the current place and named as the "Sapporo Shrine" (Sapporo Jinja), and on September 14 an inaugural ceremony was held.

From 1889 through 1946, Sapporo-jinja was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.

The soul of the Emperor Meiji was newly enshrined to the shrine in 1964, and the building was officially renamed to the current "Hokkaido Shrine".The building was destroyed by the fire in 1974, and later restored in 1978.

From June 14 to 16 in every year, the Main festival of Hokkaido Shrine, also called "Sapporo Festival" (Sapporo Matsuri), is held, and the line of people bearing Mikoshi parades down the street which leads to the shrine. It also manages a Scouting activities.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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quote
The Four Deities of the Hokkaido Shrine

1. "God of Okunitama"
God of the land of Hokkaido from which all things are able to be produced in nature.
2. "God of Onamuchi"(or by another name "Okuninushi")
God of making and developing the land.
3. "God of Sukunahikona"
God of healing who cooperates with Onamuchi to reclaim the land.
4. "God of Emperor Meiji"

LOOK
Bronze statue of the head commissioner, Mr. Shima, who brought the gods on his shoulders and decided to choose the site of the present Shrine in 1869, and also planned the city of Sapporo. Few people lived i Sapporo at that time, but now, 1,640,000 people live in this city.

Major annual Festivals

1. Festival of New Year (Jan.1st).
Commemorates the first day of the year, praying for a peaceful world, for Japan, and the prosperity of the Imperial Household.
2. Festival of the parting of the seasons (Feb.3rd).
Commemorates the beginning of spring and ceremony of praying for the coming in of good fortune and driving out all devils by throwing beans.
3. Commemoration of the founding of Japan (Feb.11th).
Commemorates the founding of Japan by accession to the throne of Emperor Jinmu, 2645 years ago.
4. Festival of praying for the fertility of crops (Feb.17th).
Prayers for the prosperity of all kinds of industries and the fertility
of farm products.

5. Main festival of Hokkaido Shrine (Jun.14th-16th).
One of the 10 biggest festival in Japan, and the largest festival in Hokkaido (about 1,000,000 people).

6. The great purification ceremony (Jun.30th).
Purifying sins, and recharging the spirit.
7. Festival of the Pioneers Shrine (Aug.15th).
In honor of 34 men involved with the reclamation of Hokkaido. 500 children carry the portable shrines downtown.
8. Festival of memorial enshrined deities (Sept.1st).
Commemorates the enshrining of the 3 dieties in 1871.
9. Festival of Meiji (Nov.3rd).
Commemorates the birth of Emperor Meiji.
10. Thanksgiving festival (Nov.23rd).
Originated from the new rice festival, a festival to celebrate the first crop of the year, when the Japanese Emperor offers the new harvest of rice to the gods oh heaven and earth to thank them for the good hervest and to pray for future blessing. The Emperor himself eats the fresh rice in private with the gods.
11. Festival of present Emperor's birthday (Dec.23rd).
Offering the present Emperor our hearty congratulations for his long life.
12. The great purification ceremony (see Jun.30th).
Purification before welcoming the new year.

13. Monthly festivals
Every month the 1st, 10th, 15th and 20th at 10a.m. prayers for a peaceful world and for Japan, for the prosperity of the Imperial Household and Hokkaido.

source : Hokkaido Jingu Homepage .

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Things found on the way

Kani Honke 札幌かに本家
The Original Crab Restaurant in Sapporo

Sapporo Miso Ramen

Sapporo Beer

. Food from Sapporo .

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HAIKU

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Shinagawa Festival

2011-07-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

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Shinagawa festival (Shinagawa matsuri)

***** Location: Shinagawa, Tokyo
***** Season: Mid-Summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Shinagawa matsuri 品川祭 (しながわまつり)
Shinagawa festival
Shinagawa Ten-Oo matsuri
品川天王祭（しながわてんのうまつり）
Shinagawa Ten-O festival

Shinagawa kappa matsuri
品川河童祭（しながわかっぱまつり）
Shinagawa kappa festival

Weekend close to June 7
for three days

. Kappa, the Water Goblin .

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This is the main festival at the
shrine Shinagawa jinja 品川神社 and the
shrine Ebara jinja 荏原神社

They are both dedicated to the "Deity of the Sky", Ten-o 天王.
Shinagawa Jinja is also called the shrine of the Ten-o of the North　北の天王,
while Ebara Jinja is the one of the South　南の天王.

　

At this festival, the most spectacular event is mikoshi palanquins of the gods being carried around. It is carried down the very steep stairs and then back up in the evening after making its way through the town.

This parade is accompanied by the beat of the Shinagawa byoshi 品川拍子 rhythm.
Rhythmic music is played during the parade from Shinagawa shrine and Ebara jinja.
The instruments of this group include the snare drum (shime daiko 締太鼓), beaten with bamboo sticks, and the bamboo flute (shinobue 篠笛).

The festival at the shrine Ebara Jinja is often held before, on the last weekend in May. At the end, after a parade from the Susaki bridge to Odaiba, the large mikoshi is carried into the sea as an offering to the God of Water. This part is the "Kappa Matsuri", Festival of the Water Goblin.

Kappa Festival

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Things found on the way

Shinagawa (品川区, Shinagawa-ku)
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. In English, it is called Shinagawa City. The ward is home to nine embassies.

Most of Tokyo east of the Imperial Palace is reclaimed land. A large portion of reclamation happened during the Edo period. Following the Meiji restoration and the Abolition of the han system, Shinagawa prefecture was instituted in 1869. The prefectural administration was planned to be set up in present-day Shinagawa in the Ebara district. In 1871, Shinagawa prefecture was integrated into Tokyo Prefecture.

The ward was founded on March 15, 1947 through the administrative amalgamation of the former Ebara Ward with the former Shinagawa Ward. Both Ebara Ward and Shinagawa Ward had been created in 1932, with the outward expansion of the municipal boundaries of the Tokyo City following the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake.

In the Edo period, Shinagawa was the first post town a traveler would reach after setting out from Nihonbashi on the Tōkaidō highway from Edo to Kyoto. The post-town function is retained today with several large hotels near the train station offering 6,000 hotel rooms, the largest concentration in the city.
The Tokugawa shogunate maintained the Suzugamori execution grounds in Shinagawa. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen began serving Shinagawa Station from 2003, and the nearby Shinagawa Intercity office complex will be served by a new subway station in a few years' time.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

東海道五十三次
. The 53 stations of the Tokaido .
1. Shinagawa-juku 品川宿 (Shinagawa)

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HAIKU

海暮れて品川祭人出急
umi kurete Shinagawa matsuri hitode iso

getting darker at the sea -
more and more people hurry along
to the Shinagawa festival

Izawa Masae 井沢正江

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Isonokami Shrine

2011-06-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

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Isonokami Shrine (Isonokami Jingu) Festivals

***** Location: Nara
***** Season: Various
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

quote
Isonokami Shrine 石上神宮, Isonokami-jinguu,
also 石上布都御魂神社 Isonokami-futsu-no-mitama-jinja,
布留大明神 Furu-ōmyojin, etc
is a Shinto shrine located in the hills of Tenri in Nara prefecture, Japan.
It is one of the oldest extant Shinto shrines in Japan and has housed several significant artifacts.

Isonokami shrine was highly regarded in the ancient era, and frequented by many members of the imperial family. It played a pivotal role in Japan's early history, especially during the 3rd to 5th centuries.

The shrine is at the northern end of the Yamanobe no michi, the oldest road in Japan.

... It is unknown which kami was initially worshipped at Isonokami shrine.

Isonokami Shrine was supposedly built on the 7th year of Sujin's reign, or the year 4 AD. However, there is little record of Sujin's existence or identity, and therefore the claim is deemed legendary. The construction of a structure that can be identified as a Shinto shrine in the Isonokami area probably dates two or three centuries later. Despite this, it is not unlikely that the Isonokami area was considered a sacred site during that time, as archeological digs have found many ritual objects, and Isonokami worship was already firmly established when they were adopted by the Yamato leaders in the 4th century.

... Isonokami shrine is surrounded by Japanese cedar (sugi), and is known for its quiet solemnity. A waka poem from the Man'yōshū anthology mentions Isonokami shrine, surrounded by holy cedar trees.

... The main enshrined dedication is to Futsu-no-mitama, the kami of a legendary sword (futsu-no-mitama-no-tsurugi) that was purportedly used by Emperor Jimmu, the first Emperor of Japan. However, the supposed sword itself is not in Isonokami shrine, but in Kashima Shrine, Ibaraki.

... The Nanatsusaya-no-Tachi 七支刀 , a seven-branched sword, is housed in Isonokami shrine.

... The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi 草薙剣 , a legendary sword, is also said to be kept at Isonokami shrine. It is one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan. According to the Kojiki, the sword was used by the god Susanoo to slay the Yamata-no-Orochi, a giant serpent with eight heads and eight tails. Unfortunately, priests at the shrine will not allow anyone to see or inspect the sword.

Tokusa no Kandakara 十種神宝（とくさのかんだから）
Ten treasures brought by Amenohiboko are thought to be housed in Isonokami shrine. According to the Nihon Shoki, Amenohiboko was a prince from Korea who settled in Japan. The ten treasures he brought are known as the Tokusa-no-Kandakara, and they are as follows:

Okitsu-kagami (A mirror)
Hetsu-kagami (A mirror)
Yatsuka-no-tsurugi (A sword)
Iku-tama (A jewel)
Makarukaheshi-tama (A jewel)
Taru-tama (A jewel)
Chikaheshi-no-tama (A jewel)
Orochi-no-hire (A type of long scarf worn by women)
Hachi-no-hire (A type of long scarf worn by women)
Kusagusa-no-mono-no-hire (A type of long scarf worn by women)

The 10 Treasures and
. Tamaki Jinja 玉置神社 .

Annual celebrations

歳旦祭 Japanese New Year (January 1)

元始祭 Genji-sai (January 3)

古神符焼納祭 Furufudatakiage-sai (January 15)

玉の緒祭 Tama-no-o-sai (Night before Setsubun)
節分祭 Setsubun

祈年祭 Kinen-sai (February 19) としごいのまつり
With prayers for a good harvest of the five grains.

献燈講講社大祭 Kentōkōkōsha-ōmatsuri
(First Sunday of each month)

春季大祭 Shunki-ōmatsuri (April 15) great spring festival

長寿講社春季大祭 Chōjukōsha-shunki-ōmatsuri (May 3)

神剣渡御祭（でんでん祭） Denden Festival
(June 30)

大祓式 Ōharae-shiki (June 30 and December 31)
Great purification rituals in June and December

崇敬会大祭 Sūkei-kai-ōmatsuri
(First Sunday of each month)

榜示浚神事 Boujisarae-shinji (October 1)

例祭（ふるまつり）Furumatsuri (October 15)

長寿講社秋季大祭 Chōjukōsha-shūki-ōmatsuri (November 3)

鎮魂祭 Chinkon-sai (November 22)

新嘗祭 Niiname-no-matsuri (November 23)
Harvest thanksgiving

お火焚祭 Ohitaki-sai (December 8)
Great Fire Festival

天長祭 The Emperor's Birthday (December 23)

神庫祭 Hokura-matsuri (December 31)

除夜祭 New Year's Eve (December 31)

月次祭 Tsukinami-no-matsuri
(Every 1st and 15th day of the month)

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

In a compound of this shrine, is the small shrine

Furu no Miya 布留の宮

Other Japanese versions are
石上振神宮、石上坐布都御魂神社、石上布都御魂神社、石上布都大神社、石上神社、石上社、布留社、岩上大明神、布留大明神.

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June 30
Denden Matsuri でんでん祭り

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quote
十種神宝
Tokusanokamudakara / Tokusa no kamu dakara

Also read jusshu jinpō.
According to the "original record of the heavenly grandchild" (Tenson hongi) in Sendai kuji hongi, these were the "ten kinds of heavenly-emblem sacred treasures" (amatsushirushi mizutakara tokusa) bestowed by the "heavenly ancestor" (amatsu mioya) on Nigihayahi no mikoto, ancestral tutelary (sojin) of the Mononobe clan, at the time of his descent from the Plain of High Heaven (Takamanohara).

　　The ten treasures or regalia consisted of
the Okitsukagami ("Mirror of the Deep"),
the Hetsukagami ("Mirror of the Shore"),
the Yatsukatsurugi ("Sword Eight-Hands Long"),

the Ikutama ("Jewel of Life"),
the Makaru kaeshi no tama ("Jewel of Resuscitation"),
the Tarutama ("Jewel of Plenty"),
the Chikaeshi no tama ("Jewel of Turning Back on the Road"),

the Orochi no hire ("Snake[-repelling] Scarf"),
the Hachi no hire ("Bee[-repelling] Scarf"), and
the Kusagusa no mono no hire ("Scarf [to ward off] Various Things").

These ten are subdivided into the four classes of swords, mirrors, jewels, and scarves.
The inclusion of scarves (hire) is significant; thought to have been an article of ancient dress, hire were believed to have magical power. According to Ryō no shūge, spirit pacification ceremonies (chinkonsai) were performed by waving these scarves. The other treasures had similar characteristics.

In the aforementioned Tenson hongi portion of the Sendai kuji hongi, the heavenly ancestor instructs that in the event of difficulty, illness, or other need to dispel evil, one should chant the names of the ten regalia while flourishing the objects, and the desired effect will immediately appear in response to one's wish. In short, the regalia were viewed as possessing magical properties, and when used in ritual had the nature of implements of exorcism or purification.
source : Okada Yoshiyuki, 2005, Kokugakuin

瀛都鏡(おきつかがみ)・辺都鏡(へつかがみ)・八握剣(やつかのつるぎ)
生玉(いくたま)・足玉(たるたま)・死反玉(まかるかえしたま)・道反玉(ちがえしのたま)
蛇比礼(へびのひれ)・蜂比礼(はちのひれ)・品物比礼(くさもののひれ)

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Things found on the way

sacred cedar tree of Furu, Isonokami 布留の神杉
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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HAIKU

布留の宮通り抜けゆく実梅籠
Furu no Miya toorinukeyuku miume kago

shrine Furu no Miya -
a basket with ripe plums
passes along

Matsui Toshi
source :　NHK Haiku

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Ondeko Drummers Sado

2011-06-25T23:13:00.000-07:00

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Demon's Drums (ondeko)

***** Location: Sado Island
***** Season: Mid-Summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

ondeko 鬼太鼓 (おんでこ) Demon's Drums
... onidaiko, oni daiko 鬼太鼓（おにだいこ）

June 25
(Nowadays it is also held on April 13 - 15.

Main festival at the temple Kanmeiji 管明寺 in Sado.

Drummers clad as black and white demons with lion masks perform dramatic drum percussions.

The temple is famous for its two large statues of Fudo Myo-O.

source : Kanmei-Ji Homepage
〒952-0108　
新潟県佐渡市上新穂659番地　ＴＥＬ　0259-22-2257

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quote
A Brief History of the Ondeko (Demon Drum Dance)
of Sado Island, Japan

In spite of the fame and popularity of the traditional performing art of Sado Island known as Oni-daiko (also called Ondeko, the demon drum dance) relatively little is known about its origins.

One story is that in the year 877, during the reign of Emperor Yozei, a Buddhist monk's dance was introduced to the Noto peninsula near Sado Island from China. Another version has it that it originated from the Tang Lion's Dance - also from China - in the 8th Century. It gradually transformed into the Demon Drum Dance as it made its way to Sado.

Today there are about 110 Oni-daiko groups on Sado, classified into 3 genres.
The Aikawa type (northern) includes the dance of an old man called mamemaki who scatters beans for good luck from a wooden measuring box. In the Kuninaka (central) variety, there are black and white demons (oni) dancing with 2 lions, and in the Maehama (southern) style, 2 demons dance together to the accompaniment of flute and drum. There are many variations in the dancing styles, but all have in common masked demons dancing to drums.

Funashimo Onidaiko 佐渡舟下鬼太鼓

Sometime between 1716 and 1735 Kiyofusa Ukyo Homma arranged the choreography of a Noh dance into a demon drum dance. At the Katagami Ushio shrine he encouraged the local residents to take part. These are the roots of Fanashimo Ondeko. In the late 1850's Rokusuke Sekiguchi - feeling the dancing style had degenerated - went to Kyoto to study traditional court dance and after teaching 3 generations of pupils, the Katagami style of Ondeko evolved. The Kuninaka style is based on this and it spread throughout the central plain of Sado over the next 60 years or so. In the Taisho period (1912-1925) a talented native of Funashimo embellished the dance, bringing it close to how we know it today. Funashimo Onidaiko is also called the 'Shishi Oni Daiko' because both shishi (lions) and oni (demons) appear.

Every year on April 13,
on the day of the Hiyoshi Shrine festival,
Hiyoshi Jinja 日吉神社
the troupe move from door to door in the hamlet driving off evil spirits and praying for an abundant harvest. At night they perform one last dance to the gods of the Hiyoshi Shrine in Niibo, after which a portable shrine (mikoshi) leaves the sacred compound to travel through the village to offer protection. The children of the village strike up a band called the Sagariha.

The Funashimo Ondeko group is made up of two people to carry the drum decorated in bamboo leaves and paper lanterns, three rhythm drummers, a male and female demon, and two lions played by two people each. The fearsome demon masks may have originated in Noh theatre or other classical performing arts, but have evolved into their own unique style which vary from troupe to troupe in colour and design. There is a variety of drumbeats played throughout the dance: toyose (stirring), michibiki (guiding), uchikomi (striking), uchikiri (closing), kurebachi ('kure' sticks), hayabachi (fast sticks) and modori taiko (returning drum). Revellers love watching and listening to the variation in drumming styles between the violence when the male demon dances and the softer touch for the female dance.

The Ondeko set begins with the toyose. The demon enters dancing and gradually approaches the drum. When the beat changes to hayabachi the dance becomes wilder. Two lions then emerge and attack the demon, trying to keep him or her from the drum. While fighting off the lions the demon struggles to reach the drum. The degree of skill and dramatic flare with which this heroic struggle is portrayed separates the great dancer from the good.

According to the elders of Funashimo, the Ondeko was formerly only performed on the official festival day. In 1924 however, an exception was made when it was performed at the reception of a group of luminaries including musicologist Hisao Tanabe, poet and novelist Keigetsu Omachi and Prince Kuninomiya After the performance Mr. Tanabe was so enthused he helped spread the word. On April 15th, at the 5th Annual National Folk Performance Contest, Funashimo Onidaiko performed at the Nihon Seinen Kaikan in Tokyo and since that date the demons have been allowed to perform in public on days other than the festival.

It has been 18 years since the the official name of the group was changed from The Young Men's Association, to The Preservation Group. In spite of the keen interest in and support for the group, it hasn't been easy to preserve this and other folk groups in the face of the radical change Japan has known since the war. This is an on-going effort kindled by the passion of each new young generation under the guiding hand of those who have gone before.
source : ondeko.blog

. . . . .

Thanks to the support of many friends, the Kodo Cultural Foundation was established in 1997 in order to increase the range of activities Kodo could engage in on their home of Sado Island.
佐渡鼓童

source : Kodo

Ondekoza 鬼太鼓座

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Sado Province (佐渡国, Sado-koku)
was a province of Japan until 1871; since then, it has been a part of Niigata Prefecture. It lies on the eponymous Sado Island, off the coast of Niigata Prefecture (or in the past, Echigo Province).

Sado was famous for mine silver and gold there. In the Kamakura Period, the province was granted to the Honma clan from Honshū, and they continued to dominate Sado until 1589, when Uesugi Kagekatsu of Echigo Province took over the island. The Tokugawa shoguns later made Sado a personal fief after Sekigahara, and assumed direct control of its mines.

Since 2004 Sado city has comprised the entire island.

Exile in Sado
When direct control from mainland Japan started around the 8th century, the island's remoteness meant that it soon became a place of banishment for difficult or inconvenient Japanese figures. Exile to remote locations such as Sado was a very serious punishment, second only to the death penalty, and people were not expected to return.

The earliest known dissident to be condemned to exile on Sadogashima was a poet, Hozumi no Asomi Oyu (穂積朝臣老). He was sent to the island in 722, reportedly for having criticized the Emperor.

The former Emperor Juntoku was sent to Sado after his role in the Jōkyū War of 1221. The disgraced Emperor survived twenty years on the island before his death; and because he was sent to Sado, this emperor is known posthumously as Sado-no-in (佐渡院). He is buried in the Mano Goryo mausoleum on the west coast.

The Buddhist monk Nichiren Daishonin was sent to Sado for three years before his 1274 pardon.
The Noh dramatist Zeami Motokiyo was exiled on unspecified charges in 1434.
The last banishment in Sado took place in 1700, almost a millennium after the first.

Gold mine
Sado experienced a sudden economic boom during the Edo era when gold was found in 1601 at Aikawa (相川). A major source of revenue for the Tokugawa shogunate, the mines were worked in very severe conditions.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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More festivals in Sado

. . . . . SPRING
Mano Park Cherry Blossom Festival
Sado Toki Marathon
Okesa Hana no Ran
Donden Highland Spring Festival
Sponichi Sado Long Ride cycling
Sadokoku Ondeko Dot Com

. . . . . SUMMER
Sado Kanzo Festival
Gold Mine Festival
Kakusanmaru Festival
Akadomari Port Festival
Earth Celebration
Ogi Port Festival

. . . . . Autumn
Sado Island Long Distance Triathlon
Sado Hill Climb
Oni-Daiko in Niibo and Toki Yubae Ichi
Momijiyama Maple Festival
Osaki Soba Party

. . . . . Winter
Sado Kaifu Winter Yellowtail Bumper Catch Festival
Setchu Toshikoshi Mikoshi
Do-Oshi
Kobie Jinja Ta-asobi Shinji
Lake Kamoko Oyster Festival
source : sado-biyori.com

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Things found on the way

Food specialities from Sado Island

suketo no okijiru スケトウの沖汁　/ スケトの沖汁
halibutt soup on the boat

yukinori, yuki nori　雪海苔　"snow-nori"
いごねり igoneri, seaweed food, Sado Island

mojio 藻塩 salt with seaweed

okoshigata おこし型 colored sweet dumplings
Sado beanpaste cakes

and more
. WASHOKU .

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HAIKU

Sado Island

荒海や佐渡によこたふ天河
araumi ya Sado ni yokotau ama no kawa

O'er wild ocean spray,
All the way to Sado Isle
Spreads the Milky Way

Tr. Dorothy Britton

. Matsuo Basho
Oku no Hosomichi .

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Related words

***** . Tsuburo fertility dance (tsuburosashi)
Sado Island

***** . Big Drum Festival (O-Taiko Matsuri )
お太鼓祭り at Shrine Toyozumi Jinja 豊積神社

***** . Hiyoshi matsuri 日吉祭（ひよしまつり） Hiyoshi shrine festival
Sannoo matsuri 山王祭 (さんのうまつり) Sanno Festival

***** . The Drum (ko 鼓) of Japan

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Saikusa Festival

2011-06-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

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Saikusa Festival (Saikusa matsuri)

***** Location: Nara Japan
***** Season: Mid-Summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Saikusa matsuri 三枝祭 (さいくさまつり) Saikusa Festival
Saikawa matsuri 率川祭（いさかわまつり）Saikawa River festival
... mikusa matsuri みくさ祭（みくさまつり）Mikusa festival
yuri matsuri 百合祭（ゆりまつり） lily festival

Main festival at the shrine Saikawa jinja 率川神社, along the Saikawa river in Nara.
June 17

Saigawa shrine 率川神社（いさがわじんじゃ)

saikusa is an old name for bamboo lilies.
They grow in abundance along the Saikawa river and on the sacred Mount Miwa.
Lilium japonicum, sasayuri ささゆり (笹百合)
nanaotome yuri 七媛女百合, nana otome yuri

During the festival black (nigori) and white sake (pure) (shiroki, kuroki) is poured into two barrels as an offering to the shrine deities. These barrels are decorated with many bamboo lilies from Mount Miwa.
This ritual dates back to the reign of Emperor Monmu Tenno　文武天皇 (701–703).

The lilies used for the offering are said to ward off disease. So after all rituals the visitors try to grab one branch to take home and stay healthy until next year.

The lilies are carried to the shrine on the day before the festival.
On the next day after the rituals, the shrine maidens (miko) dace with these branches in their hands.

umasake miwa no mai うま酒みわの舞 Miwa Sake Dance

On this day, many sake brewers from all over Japan come with offerings of their brew, and obtain a ritual cleansing ceremony.

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

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HAIKU

献灯の和紙に雨滲む百合祭
kentoo no washi ni ame shimu yuri matsuri

the paper of the lanterns
is dampend by the rain -
lily festival

Fujita Toshio 藤田壽穂

. Discussion of the translation .

百合祭寂ぶ奈良町の一遇に
河合佳代子

七媛女百合もて供奉をしたがへて
河合佳代子

source : www.haisi.com

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Related words

***** . Sake, local rice wine .

***** . Lilies and Kigo

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Usaka Festival

2011-06-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

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Usaka Festival (Usaka matsuri)

***** Location: Toyama
***** Season: Mid-Summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Usaka matsuri 鵜坂祭 (うさかまつり)
Usaka Shrine festival
..... shimoto matsuri 楉祭（しもとまつり）
... 苔祭（しもとまつり）
shiridachi no matsuri 尻太刀祭（しりだちのまつり）
"festival of hitting the bottom"
..... shiriuchi matsuri, shiri uchi matsuri
尻打祭（しりうちまつり）
... shimotodachi 苔太刀（しもとだち）"sakaki stick"
Usaka no tsue 鵜坂の杖（うさかのつえ）Sakaki stick of Usaka

Main festival at the shrine Usaka jinja 鵜坂神社.
Toyama town, Fuchu Village, 富山市婦中町　鵜坂神社 .楉祭

On the 16th of the fifth lunar month.
Other sources say the 16th day of the sixth lunar month or even the 23th day of the seventh lunar month.
Now on June 16.

Women were brought to the shrine and had to confess the number of their extra-marital friends. For each one they got a hit on the bottom.
If they did not talk or said a lie, the deity would punish them terribly ... so they all confessed their sins.

source : bambino

The stick for hitting was made of the sacred sakaki tree (Cleyera ochnacea).
Some say the stick was made of a sakaki branch cut during the new year to cook the special rice porridge with seven herbs (nanakusagayu), so the women would give safe birth.
Even Matsuo Basho has written about this festival.

This festival was abolished during the Meiji period.
Later, during the Taisho period, a horse appeared and ran around the shrine three times. This was used to be hit with the sacred stick.

Nowadays, this custom has been completely abolished.

Here is my information about the "rice gruel stick"

."rice gruel stick" kayuzue 粥杖 (かゆづえ)

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The main deities of the shrine are

鵜坂姉比咩神
鵜坂妻比咩神

淤母陀琉神 . 訶志古泥神
Omodaru and Kashikone

The sixth of the first seven generations of kami, produced immediately prior to Izanagi and Izanami. It is generally believed that the two kami actually represent a single being, Omodaru being the male half and Kashikone the female, but no other specific attributes are known.

According to Motoori Norinaga, the characters used to write Omodaru's name mean "face and leg, indicating a being without imperfection; whether in face or in the limbs, every part is furnished complete" (Kojikiden). Other theories suggest that the names mean the face of the earth or the land was perfect and complete, or that the names were mutually complementary epitaphs used by the pair of kami.

In the medieval period, shrines appeared in the Kantō area worshiping Omodaru no mikoto under the name Dairokuten ("the sixth deva"). This name was based on the association of Omodaru with the sixth deva within the Buddhist theory of the heaven of thirty-three gods
quote
source : Nakayama Kaoru

In Memory of Obiko no mikoto 大彦命, a general of the Hokuriku Army, visited the area during the reign of Emperor Sujin Tenno 崇神天皇 (148 BC), the shrine was build in 652 and venerated with envoys from Kyoto.
Soon there was also a temple of the same name 鵜坂寺.

The present building of the shrine is new, from 1873.

越中國婦負郡鵜坂神社
source with photos : www.genbu.net

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quote from
('Jingishi' in the 'Dainihonshi',
the Yoshikawa edition, p. 411. Yoshida-Toogo, 'Dainihon-Chimeijisho', Vol. II, p.1964).

In the olden time festival of the Tsukuma Shrine at Sakata-Gun in Oomi, 筑摩神社 近江 on the 1st day of the 4th month, every year, a woman was obliged to put on her head saucepans equal to the number of lovers she had favored in the course of the preceding year ('Shintoo-Myoomoku-Ruijushoo', Vol. V, p.8). It can easily be seen that the significance of this festival is the prevention of women's unchastity.
[end of excerpt]
source : books.google.co.jp ...

. Discussing the Festival, Larry Bole

. Tsukuma Festival 筑摩祭 (つくままつり)

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

. Dairokuten Ma-O
第六天魔王（だいろくてんまおう)
Big Number Six Heavenly Deity
Omodaru no Mikami 於母陀流神 and
Ayakashikone no kami 阿夜訶志古泥神.

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Daruma at the Town Hall in Usaka
鵜坂公民館

source :　toyama kodomo gekiyo

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HAIKU

ゆだんしていくなうさかの尻打ち祭り　　
油断していくな鵜坂の尻打祭　
yudan shite iku na Usaka no shiriuchi matsuri　　

do not be off guard
at the bottom-hitting festival
at Usaka shrine

Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉

pay attention
at the bottom-beating festival
at Usaka shrine

Tr. according to Larry Bole

. . . . .

あなこわや鵜坂祭りの音にむち　　　
ana kowa ya Usaka matsuri no oto ni muchi　　

Takarai Kikaku 宝井其角

. . . . .

いかにせん鵜坂の森に身はすとも　
君が笞(しもと)の数ならぬ身を

Minamoto no Toshiyori 源俊頼

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Related words

***** . WKD : Main Index 　

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