Okayama prefecture

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. Regional Festivals - From Hokkaido to Okinawa .

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Okayama Prefecture - 岡山県

located in the Chūgoku region on the island of Honshu.
The capital is the city of Okayama.

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. Okayama - Entries of this BLOG .

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. Misaki Town Festivals 三咲町　and Ohaga 大垪和　.
Kamenoko Tamago Matsuri 亀甲 たまごまつり　Egg Festival and more


. Momotaro Matsuri 桃太郎祭り .
Okayama


. Nakayama Jinja 中山神社 Rice Planting Festival .


. Saidai-Ji Temple Festivals 西大寺裸祭り .
Naked Man Festival　


. Tsuyama Town Festivals 　津山市のお祭り.


. Uraja Dance うらじゃ . 　Okayama, Momotaro Festival


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Bitchuu Kagura - Bicchu Kagura Dance
Ibara City, Takahashi City in Autumn



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Bizenyaki Matsuri 備前焼祭り　Pottery Festival in Bizen
Inbe 伊部 Imbe town - in October


. Bizenyaki 備前焼 and Daruma san . 　

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Hayakawa Odori 早川踊 Hayakawa Dance in memory of Governor Hayakawa (Edo period)
Kuse


Kamo Taisai in Soja
3rd Sunday in October




. Kiyama Jinja　木山神社　 Kiyama Shrine Festivals .
Maniwa 岡山県真庭市木山１２６５－１




. Koorakuen 後楽園 Koraku-En park in Okayama .
Tea Picking Festival - 3rd Sunday in May
Genso Teien Matsuri - late June till August



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- Kurashiki Town 倉敷

Kurashiki Haruyoi Akari - 倉敷春宵あかり
Light up in Spring - Bikanchiku
source : www.kurashiki-tabi.jp


Heartland Kurashiki
May 2 - 4

Kurashiki Music Festival
mid March - end of March


Kurashiki Tenryo Natsu Matsuri Summer Festival
Late July in Bikan area

A Kurashiki beauty contest, flee market, Tenryo-daiko (drum performance), and outdoor concert are the attractions carried on along Daikan-bayashi (folk tune) background music. The most popular among those is Ade-mikoshi, in which a portable shrine is carried only by women. Those charming and energetic women, wrapping themselves with bleached cotton cloth, parade with high spirited shouts through the town.
source :　infocreate.co.jp/en/chugoku





Suinkyo Matsuri at Achi Shrine 阿智神社
since 1692
suteki na inkyo 素朴な隠居 wonderful elder
The shrine is located on top of Mount Tsurugata in the Bikan district.
. suinkyo, su-inkyo 素隠居 persons in retirement .

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O-Hitaki Fire Ritual
2nd Saturday and Sunday in December Saijo Inari Shrine


Shiraishi Odori　白石踊り Shiraishi Island
August 14 - 16


Takahashi Matsuyama Odori Bon Dance Festival
August 14 - 16


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Takura Ushigami Sha 田倉牛神社
Takura Shrine for the "Cattle Deity"
Grand Festival January 5
Smaller festivals on May 5 and September 5.




CLICK for more photos
source :　sayaka119.blog


People bring cows and bulls made from Bizen pottery and make a wish for the New Year.
There are more than 300.000 figures on the pile.

This shrine has a torii entrance gate but no special shrine building.

Yoshinaga, Bizen
備前市吉永町福満８９８－３　　

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Yakage Shukuba Matsuri Festival - Daimyo parade
2nd Sunday in November




Yubara Onsen Hot Spring Open-Air Day
June 26



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External LINKS :

- Reference -

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Related words





. Regional Folk Toys from Japan - GANGU .　

. Regional Dishes from Japan - WASHOKU .


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Tsuyama Town Festivals

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. Regional Festivals - From Hokkaido to Okinawa .

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. Okayama Prefecture - 岡山県 .


. - - - - - Tsuyama town　津山 .



Fukuriki-Kojin Festival
1st - 3rd of the lunar New Year
Fukuriki-Kojin Shrine 福力荒神社
Visitors to Fukuriki-Kojin to hope for the avoidance of mamushi (pit vipers) and for easy childbirth. 100,000 people including many visitors from surrounding prefectures and even Kyushu island pay visits to the shrine.




Tsuyama Cherry Blossom Festival 津山さくらまつり
Tsuyama is known in Okayama prefecture as the best place to view cherry blossoms in the spring. The Cherry Blossom Festival, held from early to mid-April, features an impressive 5,000 cherry trees. Located in Kakuzan Park, visitors can enjoy the beautiful flowers among the ancient castle ruins. There is also a Daimyo Procession parade.

. Tsuyama Cherry Blossoms - 2008 .





Manpukuji Buddhist Memorial Service
11th - 13th of the lunar New Year
Manpukuji Temple 万福寺
Manpukuji Temple is located on the holy ground at the top of Kurosawa-yama mountain, 659m above sea level. It is believed that thirteen-year-old children who visit this temple will be granted dignity, happiness, and wisdom. This 1200 year old traditional visit attracts tens of thousands visitors every year.




Nakayama Jinja - Rice Planting Festival
April 29th
This festival worships the god of farming and prays for an abundant harvest. About two dozen plowmen swing plows and pretend to plant rice while a lion dances to the music of the flutes and drums.

. Nakayama Jinja 中山神社 .



Azalea Blossom Festival 長法寺あじさい祭り
End of May
Kakuzan Park etc.
During this festival, a pageant of azalea blossoms celebrates the Tsuyama city flower. Hundreds of colorful potted dwarf azalea trees are exhibited every year. Potted dwarf trees and azalea seedlings are sold, and stalls serving Japanese green tea and various foods are set up.







Gongo Festival 津山ごんご祭り
Yoshii Riverbank Park
Celebrated on the first Saturday and Sunday in August in honor of Gongo (a kappa, one of Japan's mythical creatures), the Gongo Festival is a lively celebration with parades in the daytime and fireworks at night. A Gongo Dance Contest is held at the festival. The festival is held alongside the Yoshii River and on the opposite side are various vendors and food stands. Lanterns are hung from above and the fireworks are shot over the river.

. kappa 河童 the Water Goblin .




Lion Dance Festival 獅子舞 - 高田神社秋祭り
October 17th
Takata-jinja Shrine Autumn Festival - 高田神社秋祭り
This festival began around 710 A.D. to thank the gods for a good harvest. A male and female lion, each controlled by twelve dancers, perform a soul-stirring dance imitating a struggle. The lions keep time with the flutes and drums. The dance is believed to drive away the devil and impurity.







Tsuyama Matsuri 津山まつり
Held in mid-October at Tokumori Shrine, the highlight of this festival is the Daimyo Procession, in which they carry a portable shrine (mikoshi) from the shrine down through the Tamachi District.






Old Izumo Street Festival
出雲街道津山城東むかし町
Held on the first Sunday in November on Joto Street, this festival features a parade of individuals dressed in traditional Japanese clothing to remind everyone of the city's history as a part of the ancient pilgrimage to Izumo Shrine. Various other performances and events, such as tea ceremonies, are also held.

. Izumo Kaido, The Old Trade Road of Izumo .
出雲街道




. Okayama - Entries of this BLOG .


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External LINKS :


津山だんじり保存会館 | 津山まつり Tsuyama danjiri
- source : danjiri-jp.net


- source : www.tsuyama-ct.ac.jp

More in the WIKIPEDIA !

- Reference 津山まつり --

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Related words





. Regional Folk Toys from Japan - GANGU .　

. Regional Dishes from Japan - WASHOKU .


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Cow nose ring festival

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Nose ring festival (hanaguri matsuri )

***** Location:
***** Season: Mid-spring
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

cow nose ring ceremony はなぐり　供養)

memorial ceremony for the cows 牛魂供養
third saturday in April

hanagurizuka 鼻輪塚 / 鼻ぐり塚 "nose-ring mound"
hanaguri zuka



Farmers send the nose rings of their cows, which come in all sorts of material, from plastic to metal.

Fukudenkai Temple 福田海本部のはなぐり塚
This temple is close to Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama prefecture.

There is now also a statue of a large pig and the memorial service covers all kinds of livestock, bred for human consumption.

Memorial services with fire rituals (goma) are held every month on the third saturday, but the mid-spring and autumn ceremonies are the most popular, because they can be combined with cherry-blossom viewing or red maple leaves.

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quote
"hanagurizuka" is decorated with more than 6.8 million nose rings of cows.



The Fukudenkai cult, established in 1901 by Tsuyu Nakayama, taught that in order to accumulate positive karma one should pray for the souls of cows, as
"the animal spends all its life for the people; it not only works in the fields but, after death, its flesh is then eaten and its skin is used for leather."

Since the early Showa period (1926-1989), the nose rings of cows have been put on the burial mound and twice a year—once in spring, and again in autumn—special ceremonies known as Chikukonsai are held to mourn the spirit of this beast.
source : japanonfoot.blogspot.com


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


source : gigazine.net

cow ring ritual -
I thank for the steak
of last night

Nakayama Ishino


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Related words

***** . Cow, Bull, Ox (ushi　牛) 　


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Saidaiji Festivals

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. Saidai-Ji Temple Legends .
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Saidaiji Eyo Naked Festival

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

There are many temples called
"Great temple in the west" Saidaiji 西大寺 Saidai-Ji.

Here we have kigo for two of them.


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Explanation

"NAKED MAN FESTIVAL"
Eyoo 会陽 "EYO Ceremony",
..... Saidaiji Mairi 西大寺参, shingi 神木, hadaka oshi 裸押し,
shuusei-e 修正会
Saidaiji Hadaka Matsuri 西大寺裸祭り
eyou festival
Third Saturday of February



CLICK for more photos


EYO, EYOO is the name for this ceremony, which started at the temple Saidai-Ji in Okayama and is now common for many ceremonies of this kind in Okayama prefecture and parts of Shikoku.
Eyo was celebrated at the last day of the lunar New Year, when all rituals are finished (kechigan gyooji 結願行事). It is also held at Shinto shrines.
People get a talisman paper, Goo-U 牛玉〔ごおう〕, also simply called "Talisman Go", o-funa go オフナゴ.

This later transformed into the wooden "shingi".
The root of the word EYO is believed the shouting of the men, ee-yoo, ee-yoo エエヨウ、エエヨウ.
This festival is already mentioned in scripts of 1795. The spelling then was "会養".


Temple Saidai-ji, Kannon Hall 観音院


© PHOTO : Pegasus

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In the Eisho era(1504-1521) priests at the temple distributed an amulet, which gained a reputation for being highly effective. People poured into the temple, and the priests tossed the amulets into the crowd to meet the swollen demand. This is supposedly the origin of the festival. Later the paper amulet became a pair of wooden sticks. Originally they were called shingi (sacred sticks), written with two characters meaning true and wood, and considered as sticks of gods. Today it is still called shingi, but the first character has changed to the one that means treasure.

Now
In early years the lunar calendar determined the date of the festival. Today, due to the growth of tourism the date is fixed on the third Saturday in February. Other events that accompany the festival are held accordingly.

The Boy's Hadaka Matsuri begins first at 6:00 p.m. First and Second grade boys scramble for mochi (soft rice cakes), Third and forth grade boys for Gofukuzutsu (octagonal treasure tube). Then, Fifth and sixth grade boys struggle for Takarazutsu (treasure tube).

On the banks of the Yoshii river, Eyo Winter Fireworks are displayed against the winter sky starting at 9:00 p.m. Meanwhile the thundering sounds of an all women's taiko (Japanese drums) group echo through the temple grounds.

Around 11:00 p.m. men wearing only the traditional fundoshi loincloth start to gather at the temple. As instructed by a guide they must first purify their bodies with water, run around the temple grounds and visit the statues of two deities - SenjuKannon and Go'ousho Daigongen 牛玉（ごおう）. Then they push one another into the grounds. They cool their heated bodies again in the cold water and repeat the same routine.

Up to ten thousand participants cluster on the ground by midnight, and when all the lights are turned off a priest throws the sacred sticks from a window into the melee. The fierce struggle in the dark is the climax of the festival. The men who successfully clutch the sticks are the lucky men of the yearー their happiness is promised for the whole year.

Some men creep between the legs of their rivals. Shrewd participants perform clever, premeditated teamwork. Excessively fierce actions can cause injuries, but even this can be viewed as another charm of the Hadaka Matsuri.
source :　www.city.okayama.okayama.jp

Japanese reference
List of Temples which celebrate EYO ceremonies


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HAIKU

naked festival -
the little boy shivers
in his father's arms

Gabi Greve, 1998, Temple Saidai-Ji, Okayama

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Temple Saidai-Ji in Nara
西大寺　光明殿 （奈良市西大寺芝町）

observance kigo for late spring




Saidaiji Oochamori, oo-cha mori
西大寺大茶盛 (さいだいじおおちゃもり)
serving big cups of green tea at temple Saidai-Ji
..... oochamori 大茶盛（おおちゃもり) "big teacup"

Powdered green tea served in an oversized bowl of more than 30 cm diameter. People must help each other to drink from this huge bowl.

Second saturday and sunday of April

The temple was established in 765 in the capital.
This ritual tea drinking goes back to the Kamakura period. The priest Eizon 叡尊 had a wish fulfilled, which he had made on the New Year. He was greatful and performed a tea ceremony, sharing with all the others in a large tea bowl.
(Monks were not allowed to drink alcohol, otherwise he might have served ricewine.)
The name is taken from serving large portions of ricewine, sakamori, changed to chamori.

This ceremony is especially liked by the ladies of Nara.

The ceremony is also held on the second sunday of October.

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observance kigo for late autumn

Koomyoo Shingon-E 光明真言会
Ceremony of the Komyo Mantra
October 3 - 5




In honor of Dainichi Nyorai


The Mantra of Light (光明真言, kōmyō shingon),
also called the Mantra of the Unfailing Rope Snare,
is an important mantra of the Shingon and Kegon sects of Buddhism, but is not emphasized in other Vajrayana sects of Buddhism. It is taken from the Amoghapāśakalparāja-sūtra (Chinese translation Taisho ed. no. 1092) or Sutra of the Mantra of the Unfailing Rope Snare of the Buddha Vairocana's Great Baptism and is chanted as follows:

On abokya beiroshanō makabodara mani
handoma jimbara harabaritaya un

Praise be to the flawless, all-pervasive illumination
of the great mudra [or seal of the Buddha ].
Turn over to me the jewel, lotus, and radiant light.

Initially, the mantra received little mention in East Asian Buddhist texts, and although Kukai brought the sutra to Japan in the 9th century, there are no records that he ever utilized it in tantric practices.
Records show gradually increasing use in the Heian Period, until the 13th century when it was popularized in medieval Japanese Buddhism by Myōe (Myoe), and later by Shingon monks Eison and Ninshō in their ministries.

Both the Mantra and the nembutsu were often incorporated by medieval Buddhists at one time or another, often in the same service. A common practice for the Mantra of Light was to sprinkle pure sand, blessed with this mantra, on the body of a deceased person or their tomb, based on teachings expounded in the Sutra. The belief was that a person who had accumulated much bad karma, and possible rebirth in Hell would be immediately freed and allowed a favorable rebirth into the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha.
This practice is known as dosha-kaji (土砂加持) in Japanese.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

光明真言土砂加持法会


observance kigo for mid-spring

. Dosha Kaji Hoo-E 土砂加持法会
memorial service to prevent natural disasters .



source : 仏像研究会 facebook

. Fudō Myō-ō 不動明王 Fudo Myo-O
- Acala Vidyârâja - Vidyaraja .

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HAIKU

初釜や二の腕強き大茶盛
hatsugama ya ni no ude tsuyoki oochamori

first use of the kettle -
my upper arms are strong
to hold the big teacup

anonymous
source : www.gendaihaiku.gr.jp




hatsugama,
the first use of the kettle to boil water for the first tea ceremony of the New Year.

***** . Tea Ceremony Saijiki .
茶道の歳時記

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Related words

***** . Tea Ceremony Saijiki .
茶道の歳時記

***** Naked Festivals (hadaka matsuri)


. Saidai-Ji Temple Legends .
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