Todai-Ji Nara

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Temple Todai-Ji 東大寺

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

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Explanation

Tōdai-ji (東大寺, Todaiji, Tōdai-ji, Toodaiji, Eastern Great Temple),
is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan.

Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), the largest wooden building in the world, houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu (大仏).



The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", together with seven other sites including temples, shrines and places in the city of Nara.
Shika deer, regarded as messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion, roam the grounds freely.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !






- quote - Japan Times 2015 -
Great Buddha of Nara has only half its reported number of hair curls
The Great Buddha of Nara, a 15-meter-high statue listed among Japan’s national treasures, has only 492 spiraling curls of hair on its bronze head, not the 966 locks described in ancient documents, new research indicates.

The discovery was made via a 3-D analysis of the statue’s head using a laser scanning method, conducted by Takeshi Oishi, associate professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Industrial Science, the temple in Nara where the statue is housed said Thursday on its website.

Todaiji temple asked Oishi to undertake the research because it kept receiving inquiries about the number of curls, known as “rahotsu,” on the Buddha’s head, with some visitors saying it seems the statue has many fewer curls than the number described in scrolls dating back nearly 1,000 years.

A question composed by the Mathematics Certification Institute of Japan further motivated the temple in the ancient Japanese capital to shed light on the issue, which “has remained a mystery to this day,” the temple said on its website.

When 966 hair locks are placed inside a circle, the question asks, what is the area of the smallest possible circle?



One hair curl is about 22 centimeters in diameter, 21 cm in height and weighs 1.2 kilograms.

The research required a laser beam because it is physically impossible to get behind the Buddha to count the number of locks there. A huge golden decoration representing a halo is located immediately behind the Buddha’s head, blocking access.

According to Oishi, it is estimated that the Buddha has 483 rahotsu and nine are missing, for a combined number of 492 — or just about half of the 966 mentioned in the earliest scrolls from the 1100s about the temple’s history. That number was repeated in later documents on the temple history compiled in the Edo (1603-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) periods.

However, it is still possible to assume that the statue did have 966 hair curls when it was originally built more than 1,200 years ago. The Buddha has been rebuilt each time it was damaged in war, making its seat and part of its knees the only surviving portions from the original built in 752 under the orders of Emperor Shomu to wish for peace and the stability of his nation.

- source : japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/12/03 -


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observance kigo for late spring

jukai-e 授戒会 Jukai initiation ceremony
initiation ceremony for novice monks and lay people
Toodaiji jukai 東大寺授戒

It was first performed in the year 6 of the period Tenpyoo Shoohoo 天平勝宝 (754), when priest Ganjin came from China and initiated the emperor Shomu Tenno 聖武上皇, Koken Tenno 孝謙天皇 and others.
In the following year a special hall, Kaidan-In 戒壇院, was constructed for this ceremony, where the Jukai ceremony was performed.

At present initiation rituals for lay people are performed in June 結縁授戒.
The initiation rituals for priests and monks are performed in November 授戒.


Kaidan-In 戒壇院


Todai-ji Kaidan-in Jukai Shiki
ceremony to impart the Buddhist precepts on priests and nuns at Kaidan-in of Todai-ji Temple


授戒会の五色の幡や同小春

西村舟津


source :　www.asahi.com/culture

Monks entering the hall for the Jukai ceremony, which had not been held for 26 years before that, due to repairs of the temple.


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Important yearly festivals of Todai-Ji

January 7 - Shushoo-e 修正会

February 3 - Setsubun 節分　万灯明 星祭

Around February 20 - Shuuni-e 修二会 別火坊

March 1 - 15 - Shuuni-e 修二会 本行

April 8 - 仏生会 Buddha's Birthday

May 2 - 最勝十講 聖武天皇御忌 Memorial for Emperor Shomu
May 3 - 山陵祭 - 献茶式(裏千家) Tea Ceremony

June 5 - Shunjoo Ki 俊乗忌(しゅんじょうき)
June 28 - Kejo-e 解除会(けじょえ)
Purification, to drive away evil influence from the first half of the year.

August 7 - 大仏さま　お身拭い Daibutsu Festival
August 15 - Mantoo Kuyoo-e 万灯供養会

September 17 - O-Bon 十七夜・十七夜盆踊り

October 5 - 転害会 - showing of secret statues
October 15 - 大仏さま秋の祭り Autumn Festival for the Daibutsu

December 14 - 仏名会

December 16 - 良弁忌 Roben Memorial Day
(kigo for mid-winter)


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amulet for traffic safety　交通安全　

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


. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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- --- -Yokai Database

- Todaiji - 14 legends to explore -

- Daibutsu - 17 legends to explore -

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Rooben Soojoo　良弁僧正　Roben Sojo　(689 - 773)

quote
The origin of Todaiji goes back to the Kinshoji, a temple that had existed in the eastern sector of the present Todaiji compound. Here, Roben (689-773), a scholar-monk of the Kegon sect who was to become the first abbot of Todaiji, had been active in 733. Roben is commemorated by a portrait-statue made around 1019 and kept in the Kaisando (founder's hall).

The kondo (main hall) of Kinshoji probably is the extant inner sanctuary of the hokkedo (lotus hall), popularly known as the Sangatsudo (Third Month Hall), where the Lotus Sutra (Hokekyo) is chanted yearly during the third month (sangatsu). The main icon of the hokkedo is the Fukukensaku Kannon, a splendid, dry-lacquer statue, made around 746. In 741 the Kinshoji became the provincial monastery-temple for Yamato Province (now Nara Prefecture). At that time the temple was renovated and renamed Konkomyoji after the Sutra of the Golden Light (J: Konkomyo kyo).

BIRUSHANA BUDDHA, BIRUSHANA NYORAI
source : - Mark Schumacher





His statue is shown on December 16, on the memorial day of his death.


. Roben and the Oyama Fudo Myo-O .
大山の不動様


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jukai, o-jukai お授戒 initiation ceremonies are also performed by other Buddhist sects.

お授戒や庭広々と花旋風
o-jukai ya niwa hirobiro to hana senpuu

jukai ceremony -
in the large garden
a whirlwind of blossoms

Matsufuji Kazan 松藤夏山


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way

Famous priests related to the temple Todai-Ji

. Priest Ganjin 鑑真 .


. Priest Chogen 重源 Choogen .


. Gyoki Bosatsu (Gyooki) 行基菩薩 .

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There used to be seven large temples in Nara, Nanto Shichi Daiji 南都七大寺
Nanto Shichi doo 南都七堂 - shichi daiji 七大寺 :

. Daiji, ootera 大寺 large temple .
and haiku by Masaoka Shiki


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HAIKU

When Matsuo Basho visited Todaiji in the year Genroku 2 in december, the temple was still under repair after the destruction wrought by the civil wars of the sixteenth century. The Great Buddha statue was only finally completed in 1692, after the visit by Basho described above, and the statue sat for years in the open like the Great Buddha in Kamakura.

The new Buddha Hall (which is the present one) was finally finished in 1708, and Basho did not live to see this. He grieved for the Buddha in its sad state, for at that time even the head had not been restored yet. Basho saw only the rump of the statue, slowly being covered by the first snow of the year, and he wrote:

初雪やいつ大仏の柱立
hatsu yuki ya itsu Daibutsu no hashira date

first snow!
when will the temple building start
for the Great Buddha?
Tr. Ad G. Blankestijn

The year's first snowfall!
When are the columns of Daibutsu
Temple to be erected?
Tr. Oseko


Written in December Genroku 2. 元禄2年12月


Daibutsuden, the current Hall for the Great Buddha was built in 1709.


Barnhill translated:

Visiting the Southern Capital, I yearned for the eventual building of the Buddha Hall

first snow--
for the Great Buddha, when
will the columns be raised?


Barnhill also gives an earlier version of this hokku:

雪悲しいつ大仏の瓦葺き
yuki kanashi itsu Daibutsu no kawarabuki

the snow is sad:
when will the Great Buddha
have its tiled roof?


It took about two years after the visit of Basho until the roof was preliminary fixed and the statue out of danger.


how sad to see it snowing!
when will the Gread Buddha Hall
get its roof tiled?
Tr. Gabi Greve




round tiles from the Daibutsu Hall
now a sweet from Nara
天平時代大仏殿の巴瓦 - tomoegawara

. . . CLICK here for Photos of the tiles !



Visiting temples with
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


. Hotoke, Daibutsu and Hokku .

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source :　facebook

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Related words

***** . Drawing Sacred Well Water お水取り
O-Mizutori, Omizutori .
at the Nigatsudo hall of Todai-ji Temple.


***** . OBSERVANCES – SPRING SAIJIKI .

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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. komainu 狛犬 / 高麗犬 / 胡麻犬 "Korean Dog" .


made by the Chinese sculptor Chinnakei 陳和卿 Chin Nakei, around 1196.
He had come from China on a mission to reconstruct the Todaiji in Nara.

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LIST - Hiroshima Prefecture Festivals

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Festivals in Hiroshima Prefecture


External LINK
source : www.hiroshima-bunka.jp



Gionsan Festival in Hichi 忠海の祇園祭みこし行事
Susa Shrine, Hichi, Konu-cho, Miyoshi City. Gion San
three days from the third Sunday of July

Annual summer festival of Susa Shrine, which originated 1,200 years ago and is dedicated to Susano no Mikoto (a deity in Japanese mythology).

The festival starts when 170 members of the Yano Shingi Group (important intangible folk-cultural asset of the prefecture) from the sacred ceremony in Joge-cho (Fuchu City) put on blue happi coats and visit the shrine playing gongs, Japanese drums, and Japanese flutes. When Susano no Mikoto toured the district, he is said to have entered Hichi in Konu-cho(Miyoshi City) by crossing a ridge from Yano in Joge-cho (Fuchu City). The procession of Yano Shingi
symbolizes the entrance of the deity to the mansion and is carried out by imitating
the wedding ceremony between him and the deity Kushiinadahime.

After the Yano Shingi Group performs the soul-stirring beating of drums in front of the shrine, the group, along with a children's mikoshi (portable shrine) and large mikoshi symbolizing Kushiinadahime, an important cultural property of the prefecture, proceed to Otabisyo Muto Shrine, which is about 100 meters from Susa Shrine.


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Hanadaue Event of Mibu (rice planting event)
Mibu, Kitahiroshima-cho, Yamagata-gun. Taue

It is a rice planting event complete with beautifully harnessed bulls, saotome (rice planting maidens) in splashed-pattern kimono and sugegasa hats, and master drummers. Performed in a paddy field, the Hanadaue portrays an image right out of an old Japanese picture scroll.

The Hanadaue is also called dengaku or hayashida, which both roughly mean "paddy field music event". It is believed that Hanadaue originated either as a religious performance asking for a rich harvest or as entertainment to ease the pains of hardworking farmers.

On the day of the event, "Arita Kagura", a designated important intangible folk-cultural asset, and "Hanagasa Hat Dance" are also performed. "Arita Kagura" (sacred dance of Arita) features Yamata no Orochi (the eight headed monster python), Ama no Iwato (the rock door to heaven), and Kamioroshi (the welcoming ceremony for the god).


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Hayashida Event of Shinjo (rice planting event)
Kitahiroshina-cho, Yamagata-gun

Originally a local rice planting event in the
Chugoku district, the event became widely known through its appearance at the All Japan Folk Dance and Music Festival representing the Chugoku district in 1928.

Soon after the appearance at the event, the Shinjo Provincial Art Preservation Committee was founded to preserve traditional entertainment. The committee was forced to cease activities during World War II, but after the war it was started again.

Hayashida is basically a traditional folk event worshipping "Sanbai", the god of rice fields, rather than an exhibition. Notably it has inherited the function of kamioroshi, in which the god of rice fields is welcomed to the ground. At the event, saotome, or rice planting maidens, and the music players are dressed in a rather subdued fashion.


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Hiroshima Flower Festival
Peace Memorial Park. August 6

During the festival, a variety of groups stage a parade using the tune "Hana Guruma" (flower floats) as its theme. Starting from a colorful flower gate, the parade is led by beauty queens on flower floats including Miss Flower. They are followed by the Peace Drummers, The Flower Ondo (dance song) dancers wearing fashionable hanagasa hats, jazz dancers and baton twirlers. The local omikoshi, or portable shrines, are also featured in the parade.

A festival of "Flowers, Music and Dancing" is held on Heiwa Odori (Peace Boulevard) and at Peace Memorial Park during May 3-5, or Golden Week.


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Kaidenma Race 櫂伝馬（かいでんま）
Osaki Kamijima-cho, Toyota-gun

Former Higashino-cho (present Osakikamijima-cho) is located in the northern area of Osakikamijima Island.

Sumiyoshi Shrine is located in Furue, a little north of Shiramizu. The summer festival of the shrine is held on June 29 of the lunar calendar, featuring the Kaidenma barge with oars
race.

The barge race has been held since the completion of Sumiyoshi Shrine in 1827. The shrine, which branched out from Sumiyoshi Shrine in Osaka late in the Edo period, is dedicated to prayer for prosperity of the marine transportation business.

The barge race has been held since the completion of Sumiyoshi Shrine in 1827. The shrine, which branched out from Sumiyoshi Shrine in Osaka late in the Edo period, is dedicated to prayer for prosperity of the marine transportation business.

The race is completed with the first barge rowed up on shore winning. Toward the night, the five barges are decorated with lights and then are towed back home, accompanied by court music. It is a graciously beautiful sight reminding us of the triumphant return of suigun (naval forces).

The size of a barge must be 12 meters long and 1.8 meters wide. Seven oars are fixed on each side. A barge accommodates 18 members, including 14 rowers, a chief bargeman, a drummer, and cheering children (their gestures are called Daifuri and Kengaifuri). Each barge has a rectangular flag flying at its middle to show which area it comes from.


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Kojin Kagura Performance
Tojo-cho and Saijo-cho, Shobara City

The Hiba district becomes a village of kagura in late autumn. A small scale kagura is called "Kojinsan". People put great efforts into a large scale kagura in special ceremonial years, such as the seventh, thirteenth, and thirty-third, as the greatest events in the district.

For large scale kagura, first a giant pan with boiling water is prepared in the garden of a farmer's house where the first kagura is to be prepared. Next, a Shinto priest dips bamboo branches in the hot water; he then proceeds to purify the site by waving the branches in the air. Then the people greet the shintai (an object of worship) from Kojin Shrine and place it on an altar.

To begin with, the music, played on Japanese drums, flutes, and gongs, is harmonized in "Uchitate". In seven dances, including Kyokumai, Sakakimai, and Kamimukae, several Shinto priests, wearing silk garments called "Kariginu", dance with fans, pendant paper strips and bells.

At dusk, the celebration moves to a shrine. After the seven ritual dances are performed again, Noh dancing begins. Based on ancient mythologies, such as "Opening the Gate of the Celestial Rock Cave" and "Handing Over the Country", dances appearing like stories seem to last without end.

When the sky begins to grow light, Takusen (divine revelation) starts, in which one of the Shinto priests works himself into a trancelike state, the climax of the ritual. People finally return the shintai to the shrine.


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Tokasan Festival とうかさん
Temple Enryu-Ji and Chuo Dori Avenue

Tokasan is the summer festival for the god of Toka Daimyojin at Enryuji Temple, Mikawa-cho, Hiroshima City.

Since the name Tokasan can be a pun on the "10th day" (toka　十日 tooka) in Japanese, it is held annually June 8-10. The festival is also known as the Yukata Festival ゆかたできん祭. Yukata is a kimono of lightweight cotton, like a summer robe. People in Hiroshima are supposed to begin wearing their yukata from this day on.

During the three days of the festival, hundreds of street stalls with games and snack foods appear along Chuo Dori Avenue, including popular goldfish scooping, balloon fishing, grilled cuttlefish and more. The festival site is jammed with children in yukata and young couples indulging in kakigori, or flavored shaved ice. Yakuyoke uchiwa,or fan to ward off evil, is sold as a Tokasan specialty at the festival. Participants may be reminded of bygone days by the sight of little girls with these fans.

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. Mihara Daruma 三原だるま .


Yassa Matsuri Festival 三原やっさ祭り
Mihara Yassa Daruman やっさだるマン　- Second Sunday in august.

Along with shamisen (a three-stringed musical instrument), taiko (a drum) and cheerful accompanying music, dancers clad in yukata, simple summer kimono made of cotton, continue dancing wildly. Shouting, "Hah yassa, yassa", groups of dancers move by, one after another: dancing legs and hands that weave their way through the crowd; sweating youths, intoxicated with dancing; maiden groups with exuberant gestures responding to the sound of the powerful beating drums. Highlighted dancing on summer nights lasts, knowing no end. Shouts of "Yassa, yassa" surround the castle town until midnight.

Yassa Odori dancing, one of the prominent forms of traditional summer entertainment in Hiroshima Prefecture, is held as a three-day pageant in August every year, the last day being the second Sunday. The origin is not clear, but it is said that the songs belong to Haiya-bushi folk songs. It is possible that Haiya-bushi, sung at port towns, spread and became Yassa Odori. The dance has been influenced by characteristics of Nenbutsu Odori, sutra chant dancing, too. When Takakage Kobayakawa built Mihara Castle in 1567, the town people are said to have danced, celebrating its completion.

Although gestures of Yassa Odori were arranged and established after World War II, people danced freely and wildly as they liked before the war. Yassa Odori was presented in Mihara-shiko, a local history written in 1819.


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MORE

Chinkasai chinka sai 鎮火祭（ちんかさい）
Fire extinguishing festival
廿日市市宮島


Doounji no hana matsuri / Flower Festival at temple Doun-Ji
洞雲寺の花祭り（とううんじのはなまつり）



. Fude matsuri 筆まつり（ふでまつり）
brush festival 　
Kumano town, day of spring equinox (fude no hi 春の筆の日)



Fukuyama bara matsuri / Fukuyama rose festival
福山ばら祭（ふくやまばらまつり）


Hane odori / jumping and dancing
はねおどり（はねおどり）


Higashimura no kakashi matsuri 東村町のかかし祭り
scarecrow festival


Hitomoshi matsuri 火ともしまつり（ひともしまつり）
"fire making" festival


. Itsukushima Shrine (Itsukushima Jinja)
Miyajima 宮島
Kashiwajima no Kangensai
柏島の管絃祭（かしわじまのかんげんさい）



Kaida shin machi choosai
海田新町頂載（かいたしんまちちょうさい）


Kameyama Hachiman san
亀山八幡さん（かめやまはちまんさん）



Kure minato matsuri / Kure harbour festival
呉みなと祭（くれみなとまつり）


Mitsu Gion matsuri / Gion festival at Mitsu
三津祇園祭り（みつぎおんまつり）


Nigata no kai odori
仁方の櫂踊り（にがたのかいおどり）


Ondo Kiyomori matsuri
音戸清盛祭（おんどきよもりまつり）


Ono matsuri 大野祭り（おおのまつり）


Onomichi Minato Matsuri / Onomichi Harbour Festival
尾道みなと祭（おのみちみなとまつり）


Otebi shinji / "handheld fire ritual"
お手火神事（おてびしんじ）


Sannose no boo no mai matsuri / Stick festival at Sannose
三之瀬の棒の舞祭り



Tamatori sai 玉取祭（たまとりさい）


Yagura matsuri 櫓祭り（やぐらまつり）


Yoshiwara jingi 吉原神儀（よしわらじんぎ）


Yumi matsuri / Bow Festival, archery
弓祭り（ゆみまつり）


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Mitarai Port
呉市豊町御手洗（港町 広島）

Facing the Inland Sea, the port town is given a sedate air by the narrow streets lined with black tiled eaves. Reminders of the port's past prosperity include the port inns, Manshuji Temple, Daitoji Temple, the shrines of Ebisu and Sumiyoshi, and the remains of the House of Wakaebisuya and Shichikyoochi (an old house where seven court nobles stayed on their return to their homeland after being defeated by the Shogunate government).

The liners of the Seto Inland Sea were originally jinori, coastal liners. Later they changed into okinori, offshore liners. In the Kanei era (1624-1644), Mitarai, located in Ocho Village, became a shipping center and many ships came to call there partly because of the land formation which protects it from the wind.

At first, people of Ocho Village would only sell vegetables, logs, or water in Mitarai. But in 1666, houses were allowed to be built in Mitarai by the feudal clan, and Mitarai has followed the path to a major port town since then.

Machi toshiyori, a senior statesman, was dispatched there in 1713.
The port was very busy with foreign ships from the Netherlands and China, diplomatic ships dispatched by the Ryukyuan king, ships of Shogunate government officials, ships of feudal lords who were required to go up to Edo (now Tokyo) for alternate-year attendance, and westbound liners. The port was also an important point for trade. With its inner and outer harbors, the port was capable of taking in several hundred ships, and was the leading port of the Chugoku district.

Mitarai matsuri 御手洗祭り Mitarai Festival

source : www.hiroshima-bunka.jp


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


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Related words

. Folk Toys from Hiroshima Prefecture .


. WASHOKU
Food from Hiroshima Prefecture 　　


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- Hikiyama festival floats

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Hikiyama festival floats　曳山

There are various types of festival floats

yatai　屋台
danjiri だんじり　山車　
kasaboko 笠鉾　"umbrella floats"


Hikiyama are large and high floats, that are pulled (hiki) around town.
They can be more than two stories high, including a band, dancers, dolls or other decoration or entertainment.




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Festivals with Hikiyama floats 曳山祭
source : hikiyama.html



A regional list with all festivals.
source : hikiyama/frame/frame3_tiiki



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. Danjiri Festival Float 山車 .


dashi 山車（だし）festival float
kigo for all summer


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A folk toy from Shiga
where a famous Hikiyama festival is held :


the left from Otsu, right from Nagahama

. Nagahama hikiyama no dashi
長浜曳山祭りの山車 float of the Nagahama festival .


. Folk Toys from Japan .　


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Things found on the way


. WKD : hikiyama .


. WKD : danjiri .


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HAIKU

. danjiri 山車（だんじり）festival float .

portable shrine, mikoshi　神輿、御輿
"barrel portable shirne", tarumikoshi　樽御輿
..... Small lightweight shrine for children to carry around

high portable shrine, dashi　山車

and more festival kigo.

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Related words

***** . OBSERVANCES – SPRING SAIJIKI .


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Degawari for servants

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Migrating servants (degawari)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Mid-spring and mid-autumn
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

After the New Year ceremonies, the old servants were replaced by younger ones.
The old ones had to leave their employers and return to their home villages.
The young ones traveled toward the nearby towns to find employment.



degawari 出代 (でがわり) migrating of the servants
exchange of the servants
..... 出替（でがわり）
igasane 居重ね（いがさね）、inari 居なり（いなり） staying as a servant
shinzan 新参（しんざん）newcomer, new hand
gozan 古参（こさん）an old-timer, senior servant
choonen 重年（（ちょうねん）senior staff

o-memie 御目見得（おめみえ） probation time of the new servants


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kigo for mid-autumn

nochi no degawari 後の出代 (のちのでがわり)
migrating of the servants in autumn
.... aki no degawari 秋の出代（あきのでがわり）


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not kigo
People from the countryside went to the towns to make a bit of money during the slow seasons.


degawari is short for 出替り奉公人
servants employed for a short time, less than one year
degawari hookoonin

zue, hanki-i 半季居（ずえ） for half a season
ikki-i hookoo 一季居奉公 for one season

fudai hookoo 譜代（ふだい）奉公 servants for a longer time
nenkiri hookoo 年切（ねんきり））奉公 servants for one year

shiyoonin 使用人 servant

bukebookoo 武家奉公 servant of a samurai
dechibookoo, detchibookoo 丁稚（でっち）奉公 servant of a merchant

kogai 子飼（こがい） child in employment

nenkibookoo 年季奉公 servant for a special time,
where his owner (parents) got money

degawari was often done by the oldest son or daughter of a family to learn something in Edo or a nearby town.

Later they were called

wakatoo 若党（わかとう）
chuugen 中間（ちゅうげん）
komono 小者（こもの）
zooritori 草履取（ぞうりとり）(keeper of the straw sandals of his master)

The story of young Hideyoshi, who kept the sandals warm in his busom pocket for the lord Nobunaga and later made a career as the shoogun of Japan is quite well known.


bantoo 番頭 head clerk
at a mercantile establishment
He was the leader of all the servants in a merchant home and had to take all the responsibility of a manager, doing the bookkeeping as well.
In Samurai estates, he was also called bangashira.
If there were more than one bantoo in a store, one was the "Big bantoo" oobantoo 大番頭. He also worked as a leader for the neighbourhood security forces.


hyakunin bantoo 百人番頭 "bantoo leading 100 servants"



. yakko 奴 simple workers in a daimyo estate
yakko shoogatsu 奴正月（やっこしょうがつ）
New Year holiday for the yakko servants
kigo for the New Year




ashigaru 足軽 (あしがる) "light on the feet"
lightly armed warrior-servants
They had to carry the spears, bows and arrows and other weapons.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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ashigaru bentoo 足軽弁当 lunch for an ashigaru
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


"dechi yookan, detchi yookan 丁稚ようかん (でっちようかん)" "jelly for servants"
from Fukui prefecture


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HAIKU

Some haiku by Kobayashi Issa
(Tr. David Lanoue)


出代の市にさらすや五十顔
degawari no ichi ni sarasu ya gojuu kao

a laid-off servant at market--
his fifty year-old face
exposed


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haiga by Nakamura Sakuo


出代や江戸の見物もしなの笠
degawari ya edo no kembutsu mo shinano-gasa

migrating servants -
in Edo, too
Shinano's umbrella-hats

Issa's home province was Shinano.




大原に出代駕の通りけり
oohara ni degawari kago no toori keri

across the wide plain
a migrating servant
in a palanquin


Palanquin, sedan chair (kago 篭 or かご)




門雀なくやいつ迄出代ると
kado suzume naku ya itsu made degawaru to

gate's sparrow singing--
until when
a migrating servant?


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出代や六十顔をさげながら
degawari ya rokujuu-zura o sagenagara

looks sixty
but proud of his latest
temporary job
Tr. Chris Drake


This hokku is from Issa's own handwritten collection of his hokku that contains hokku from many years. It must be a spring hokku, since the shogunate mandated that job changes for one-year temporary workers should take place in the third month (April) and for six-month temporary workers in the third and ninth months (April, October), and only the spring and summer sections of Issa's handwritten collection remain. There were many kinds of medium-length temporary work, with the two most common being a worker in a wholesale or retail business or a low-ranking live-in household servant. The pay was very low, though living costs were covered, and in businesses there was the possibility of promotion to a semi-permanent or permanent position. Since there was a constant influx of people from poor farming areas into the city of Edo looking for work, wages stayed low, and usually those who did find work either remained for several years in order to save up a little money before they returned to their hometowns or became Edoites and settled in the big city.

The man in Issa's hokku seems to be a migrant who has settled down and is now an Edo resident. For many years he's been working for one employer after another, changing either once or twice a year. He's never been able to find a permanent job, and he seems to have no special skill to sell, yet he is content to keep on changing and accepting pitiful wages the way a desperate young man would. To many people he appears shameless and thick-faced, since at sixty he should be dignified or at least above doing unskilled manual labor, but the man has learned not to be bothered by the negative opinions of others. Apparently his sixtyish face even looks a bit happy or at least relieved at finding a new job as an odd jobs man or a servant, though his nonchalance and lack of concern for social status make some people feel uneasy.

Issa himself was sent to Edo at fourteen by his father, presumably to become an apprentice or servant for several years, and he knew how hard and unrewarding such work was. For example, there were only two regular one-day vacations a year, around New Year's and during the early fall O-Bon festival of returning souls. In this 1822 hokku Issa evokes someone who wishes he (or she) could enjoy life in Edo a little bit:

de-gawari ya edo kembutsu mo shinano-gasa

changing jobs again --
he wears a country hat
but can't see the sights

The broad-rimmed rush or straw hat of the part-time worker from the country is actually a "Shinano hat," since the man is from Issa's home province. Unlike short-time visitors to Edo from Shinano and other rural areas, this part-time worker has no time to see the sights of the city, many of which are especially beautiful in the third month, when the cherries and other trees and plants are in bloom. As soon as his contract is up at one place, he must go to the temporary-job market and hustle to find a new employer. The man lives in Edo, yet he knows little more than the insides of the houses or shops in which he's lived and worked. And he can't even afford a stylish new hat of the type popular in Edo. Surely Issa marvels at the persistence and endurance (and cheerfulness?) shown by a man who continues to do this hard, demanding work past sixty, something he couldn't do himself. Luckily he discovered haikai instead.

Chris Drake

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


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Related words

***** yabuiri, yabu iri, yabu-iri 薮入 servant's holiday
Sainichi 斎日, さいにち Fasting day, sixteenth day
kigo for the NEW YEAR



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kigo for early autumn

***** nochi no yabuiri 後の薮入 (のちのやぶいり)
"next holiday for the servants"
aki no yabu-iri 秋の薮入（あきのやぶいり）
servant holidays in autumn

It used to be the 16th day of the 7th lunar month, related to Tanabata and O-Bon.

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Court ceremonies SPRING

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Court Ceremonies in Spring

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Spring
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

The court ceremonies date back to the Heian period.

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Kinensai 祈念祭 (きねんさい) Kinensai ritual
Ritual at the beginning of the year
toshigoi no matsuri 年祈いの祭（としごいのまつり）
observance kigo for early spring

February 4
Performed by the imperial officials (jingikan, kamizukasa 神祇官 )
Prayers for a good harvest and peace of the country are offered to the deities.

This ritual has been revived after the Meiji restauration.


. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Reken, rekken 列見 (れけん) Reken ritual
observance kigo for mid-spring

On the 11th day of the second lunar month.
Now February 11.

Audience of high officials with the Emperor, since the Heian period.
The audience is held in the park. According to the behaviour of the officials their rank was confirmed.
The officials wore flowers in their headgear.


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Shunki kooreisai 春季皇霊祭 (しゅんきこうれいさい)
spring commemoration for the Imperial Spirits)
..... kooreisai 皇霊祭（こうれいさい）Koreisai ritual
observance kigo for mid-spring

21st day of the third lunar month

The present emperor performs rituals for all the other emperors before him.
It used to be a public holiday until WW II.
Now it is celebrates on the day of the spring equinox.




There is another Koreisai ritual in autumn 秋季皇霊祭.
(23 of September)


. Spring Equinox, haru higan, 春彼岸 .


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HAIKU

列見や菊石引伸す烏帽子の緒

Kikaku 其角　


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Related words

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


BACK : Top of this Saijiki

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Sunafumi sacred sand

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Stepping on sacred sand (sunafumi)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: May and October
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

o-sunafumi, osunafumi お砂踏み
stepping on sacred sand





At the temple Tamagawa Daishi in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo there is a special ceremony twice a year,
in May and October from the 21st to the 23nd,
where people pray in front of hanging scrolls of the 88 Temples of the Shikoku Pilgrimage and the 33 Temples of the pilgrimage in honour of Kannon Bosatsu.


Pilgrimage(henro, junrei)
Pilgrims. Japan and worldwide



玉川大師　お砂踏み　大祭
Tamagawa Daishi Temple and the Big Ceremony in May and October

In the temple grounds there are over 300 stone statues of Buddhas while you walk along replikas of the Shikoku and the Kannon Pilgrimage. The last statue on the pilgrimage is one of Kobo Daishi himself.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !




川崎大師　お砂踏み　遍路道
Kawasaki Daishi Temple in Kawasaki City and the Sacred Sand Walking The Sacred Sand Walking was taken up as a means to improve the health and legs of the visitors. Under each stone memorial of one of the 88 temples of the Shikoku pilgrimage there is a bit of Sacred Sand in the ground, so you can actually “Walk in Shikoku”.
At Kawasaki Daishi there is a big Daruma Market during the first Days of the New Year, where our Daruma is sold in the thousands.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !




Temple Shootoku-ji 聖徳寺
Tsuyama Town, Okayama prefecture
In Honour of the 88 temples of the Shikoku Pilgirmage and the 33 Temples dedicated to Kannon (Avalokiteshvara) in the Saikoku area of Western Japan.
http://www.tvt.ne.jp/~syoutoku/osunafumi.htm
. . . CLICK here for Photos !




Temple Iza-Ji 医座寺
The main object of veneration is Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Healing.
His statue is carved in stone, the letters are said to be the handwriting of Dengyoo Daishi, the great Buddhist teacher and founder of the Tendai Sect.

While you stand in front of the stone saying your prayers, you tread on sand from Shikoku, doing the SUNAFUMI of the temples with Yakushi Nyorai. The stone where you stay has the form of Buddha’s footprints.
Stay there firmly and pray for your future career and it might be granted. Shusse Yakushi, the Yakushi Buddha for your Career, might take care of things.
Say the mantra of Yakushi three times, stepping on the stone firmly.

On korokoro sendari madowagi sowaka.

. . . CLICK here for Photos !



. Fukusenji 福泉寺 Fukusen-Ji - Yokohama .


Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来、
Buddha of Medicine and Healing


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O-Sunafumi in Hawaii
Local residents may re-create a famous pilgrimage for healing through the Osunafumi 88 Temples exhibit in the Pikake room. Soil was brought from each of the Shikoku island temples to allow participants to make the mini-pilgrimage.
http://starbulletin.com/2002/08/24/features/story2.html


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四国霊場お砂撫で o-suna nade
stroking the sacred sand

a ceremony held in various places, with bags of sand from Shikoku





あたたかく四国霊場お砂撫づ 　
atatakaku Shikoku reijoo o-suna nade

on a warm day
we stoke the sacred sand -
Shikoku pilgrimage

Shooji 湘次
http://shashin-haiku.jp/allblogs-1580


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The Pilgrimage to 33 Kannon Temples
To learn about Kannon Bosatsu.

In his/her honour there are many pilgrimages all over Japan to 33 temples in the localities. Mark Schumacher has a good page about this.
... Kannon Bosatsu


. JAPANESE PILGRIMS and PILGRIMAGES



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HAIKU



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..... BACKUP Sunafumi


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Yoshida Shrine Kyoto

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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)
Yoshida Daigen Guu, Yoshida Daigengū 　吉田大元宮 Yoshida Daigen Gu
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.

At this Yoshida shrine, people can worship all the Kami of Japan (yaoyorozu no kami　八百万の神）in one visit.
©　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.

追儺厄除け面 mask to ward off evil

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


. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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Daisen Akita Festivals

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Daisen town in Akita

秋田県大仙市




quote
Daisen is a sprawling city in the south of Akita, famous for its fireworks, rice wine, baseball obsession, winter festivals and many other unique attractions.

List of Yearly Events

January
Early Jan: Omagari New Talent Music Festival
Mid-month: Yatsuzaka “Bonden” Festival (Nakasen)
八坂神社梵天まつり

February
Early Feb: Hotta Saku Winter Festival (Senboku)
11th: Kariwano Giant Tug of War 刈和野の大綱引き
10th: River Crossing “Bonden” Festival (Hanadate) 川を渡るぼんでん
15th: Bird Child Dance and Tug of War (Omagari)
4th Sundary: Ota Fire Festival 太田の火まつり

March


Sake Summit in Nangai 酒遊サミットin なんがい
- source : shoko.skr-akita.or.jp

3rd Sunday: Dakerokusho Shrine “Bonden” float festival (Jinguji)
嶽六所神社奉納梵天
Late March: New Fireworks Collection (Omagari)
Late March-Early April: Yaotome Cherry Blossom Festival (Nakasen)
March 31 長野神社　梵天まつり

April
saotome sakura matsuri 八乙女さくらまつり

May
大曲子どもつり大会
花火鑑賞士のつどい

June
Kawaguchi Canyon Ground Golf Tournament (Ota)
A Sunday in June: National “Obako” Folk Song Competition (Omagari)
秋田おばこ節全国大会
Late June: Kashima Float Festival (Omagari)鹿島流し

July
1st Sunday: Midai festival and Junior Sumo Competition (Engyouji)

August
Early August: 550 Year Old Baseball Team Tournament (Nangai)
Omagari Summer Festival 夏まつり大曲
15th: Aya Summer Festival (Senboku) まつり彩夏せんぼく
16th: Donpan Festival (Nakasen) ドンパンまつり
17th: National Treasure on display at Sui Shrine (Nakasen)
4th Saturday: Omagari Fireworks
まほろば唐松定期能公演

September
National “Ohara” Folk Song Competition (Omagari)
「秋田おはら節」全国大会
Nanbu Chuhei Cup Ground Golf Tournament (Ota)
10th & 11th: Nagano Shrine Festival 長野神社祭典
14th: Hachiman Shrine Festival (Jinguji) 八幡神社祭典
Late Sep: 500 Year Old Baseball Competition (Kamioka)
神岡南外花火大会

October
Ou Ota Road Race
2nd Monday: Osazawa Park Festival (Kariwano)
Kuromoriyama Fitness Marathon (Kariwano)
Mid-month: Lake Biyama Autumn Festival (Kyowa)
協和ダム美山湖紅葉フェスティバル
3rd Saturday: National Jumbo Rabbit Festival (Ota)
全国ジャンボうさぎフェスティバル
Late Oct: Autumn Bounty Fair (Omagari)
大仙市秋の稔りフェア

November
2nd Sunday: Tohoku Shogi Tournament (Nishi-senboku)
東北学生将棋大会
国指定名勝「池田氏庭園」特別公開

December
Other Noh Theatre by Bonfire (Kyowa)
source : www.city.daisen.akita.jp

大仙市　
〒014-8601 秋田県大仙市大曲花園町


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Ota Fire Festival 太田の火まつり

Up until around 30 years ago, each village would hold their own small separate celebration of the 14-16th days of the lunar New Year. The Ota Fire Festival has brought all of those together into one joint event, and is held on the fourth saturday of February every year.

There are many things to see, including a taiko drum performance, the
"Paper hot-air balloons" which dance magically in the icy night sky, and
"Rice planting in the snow" to pray for a bountiful harvest.




There is also "Tenpitsu yaki 天筆焼き", a ceremony where people write their wishes and desires onto brightly coloured pennants and then fling them into a fire. If the ash floats up from the fire and drifts a long way away then it means their wish has a good chance of coming true.




Another performance is the
"hitting with bamboo poles", take uchi 竹打ち
takeuchi matsuri 竹打ち祭り
Two groups of fearless men, from the North and the South, dress in protective gear and grab long bamboo poles. They line up in two lines, separated by the lenght of the bamboo poles.
They now start hitting the ground and each other, until most of the bamoboo is broken.
The match is held in the evening, with huge bonfires for light.
The winning team is the answer to the prediction of a good harvest in the coming year.

秋田の奇祭"六郷の竹打ち"
Special Festival, Kisai


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the reporter
gets a good whack -
take-uchi festival

Gabi Greve
watching the preparations for this festival on TV


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***** . Fire Festivals (hi matsuri) 　

***** . Kisai 奇祭 special festivals 　


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