Torch Festival (Otomatsuri)

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Torch Fire Festival (Otomatsuri)

***** Location: Japan, Wakayama
***** Season: Early Spring
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Torch Festival, O-too matsuri 御灯祭, お燈まつり, 御燈祭

Held in Kumano, in the town of Shingu at the shrine Kamikura Jinja 和歌山県新宮市の神倉神社.
February 6.
This fire festival has a history of more than 1400 years. It welcomes the God of the New Year and was held on the six day of the first month, according to the Asian lunar calendar.


Copyright (C) 2007 JTB Publishing Inc.

Men of all ages, called "those who climbed up, agari ko 上り子, run down the 538 steep stone steps of the mountain shrine, in complete darkness, each carrying a torch, which was lit before the festival on the sacred flame of the shrine.
They wear white cloths to express their will to be "deadly serious" about this. White cloths (shini shoozoku　死に装束, shiro shoozoku 白装束）are worn by many mountain ascetics.
On the night of the festival, men eat only WHITE food, such as cooked white rice, white rice cakes and radish.

The first one to reach the bottom of the stairs used to get a barrel of rice in former times. Nowadays, it is just for the thrill of it. The first few men are called "Tengu", mountain goblins, for being able to make it in such a short time.

More than 2000 men gather every year within the small mountain shrine compound and wrangle for the best place closest to the gate, which is opened at eight o'clock.

Many train all year to get a feeling of the unregular, small stone steps, the curves and problems of the dangerous way down.
Some fathers carry their baby sons on the back, stepping very carefully so as not to fall in the dark.

They take the torches home, place them on the shelf for the gods (kamidana　神棚) and pray for the good luck of the whole family in the coming year.

The whole mountain area of Kamikura is usually off limits for female persons (nyonin kinsei 女人禁制). Mothers, wifes and grandmothers wait at the bottom of the path and pray for the safe return of their menfolk.

Gabi Greve, February 2007

Click HERE to look at more photos !
otoumatsuri


From the song of the shrine Shingu:

「お燈まつりは男のまつり 山は火の滝、下り龍」
This is a festival for real men ! The mountain becomes a waterfall of fire, a Dragon coming down !

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Kumano Hayatama Taisha
includes the compound of the shrine situated near the river mouth of the Kumanogawa River, as well as Mt "Gongenyama 権現山" in the background, where Kamikura-jinja is located, and the ritual sites Mifunejima and Otabisho. Halfway up Mt Gongenyama there is a shrine called Kamikura-jinja, where it is believed that the shrine deity had descended. Around the gigantic rock called Gotobiki-iwa, which has itself been worshiped as a sacred object, many bronze bells of the 3rd century and sutra mounds of around the 12th century have been found.

Annually on the 6th of February the fire festival called Kumano Otomatsuri is held; this festival, which is said to retain its ancient religious traditions, was originally observed on the 6th day of the lunar-calendar New Year.




Read more about the area of Kumano HERE
© Okayama Prefecture : Kumano

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Part of the stone steps on the path, a feat to climb up even in summer daylight.



© PHOTO Wikipedia

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way

TANAKA,Masaaki [Otoumatsuri – Wakayama Pref]
Woodblock of this festival

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HAIKU


complete darkness -
a dragon of fire races
down the steps

Gabi Greve, 2007



© PHOTO : www.kumano-monogatari.com/

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Related words

***** . Nachi no himatsuri 那智の火祭り Fire Festival at Nachi
main festival at shrine Nachi Taisha, July 14.


***** Fire Festivals of Japan (hi matsuri)

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Spring Festival

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Spring Festival (haru matsuri)

***** Location:
***** Season: All Spring
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Spring Festival, haru matsuri 春祭り



This is the most common naming for all the festivals occuring in the springtime throughout Japan.
Some are quite famous, like the Festivals of the Kashihara Shrine, the Kasuga Shrine and the Great Usa Shrine.

They also were similar to the New Year Festivals according to the Asian Lunar Calendar.

People prayed for a bountiful harvest and wellbeing of the whole family.

God of the Year (toshi toku jin)


Kashihara Spring Festival (Kashihara matsuri)

Kasuga Shrine Festivals (Kasuga matsuri)


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Worldwide use

INDIA SAIJIKI ..... (WKD - INDIA):
Spring Festivals


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Things found on the way


The Great Hachiman Shrine in Usa 　宇佐神宮
Daruma Museum


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HAIKU



spring ceremony -
he leads his Buddha
by the hand

© Photo and Haiku / Gabi Greve, 2008



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Related words

***** Festival (matsuri) Japan.Introduction

***** Autumn Festival (aki matsuri)

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January 20 Celebration (hatsuka iwai)

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January 20 Celebration (hatsuka iwai)

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

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Explanation

hatsuka iwai 二十日祝い celebrating on January 20

January 20 is also a special "New Years Day" (hatsuka shoogatsu 二十日正月) in Japan. The Samurai class took this as a special ritual and prepared special food for this day. The ladies of the house where allowed for the first time now to take the cover off the mirror and look at their faces. They also could eat the rice cakes that had been put as offerings before the mirror boxes (kyoodai　鏡台).

Officially this was the last day of New Years celebrations, where folks would cook rice with red soy beans (sekihan 赤飯) and eat the last New Year cakes to celebrate.

It was also the day when the God of Good Luck, Ebisu, had his first festival.

In the area of Kyoto and Osaka, the leftover bones of yellowtail (buri) offered during the New Year celebrations were cooked and eaten (New Year bones, hone shoogatsu　骨正月).


. Ebisu えびす　恵比寿　 .


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More kigo for this day

"sword handle" celebration, ha tsuka iwai 刃柄祝（はつかいわい）

Celebration of the mirror box, kyoodai iwai 鏡台祝（きょうだいいわい）

Celebration of the "first face", hatsu kao iwai 初顔祝（はつかおいわい）

Celebration of the Mirror, kagami no iwai 鏡の祝（かがみのいわい）


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU



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Related words

***** BACK TO
Festivals and Ceremonies of Japan



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Tree fertility ritual

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Tree fertility ritual (narikizeme )

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

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Explanation

On January 15, the day of the "Small New Year" (koshoogatsu 小正月)fruit tree are beaten with special wands (iwai boo 祝い棒) to co-erxce them into bringing rich fruit at harvest time. The men beating the tree shout:

なるかならぬか、ならねば切り倒す
naran ka naranu ka naraneba kiritaosu

Will you bring fruit?
Will you not bring fruit?
If you do not bring fruit
I will cut you down !

Other men take the place of the beaten tree and shout back:

なります、なります
I will bring fruit, I will bring fruit !

This ritual is especially performed in the fruit growing areas of Northern Japan and Western Japan.
Sometimes a hatchet was used to actually nick the tree, and then red beans rice gruel (azuki-gayu) was smeared on the nick.



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tree fertility ritual, narikizeme
..... 成木責, 生り木責め, 成り木責め

kizeme 木責（きぜめ)
tree incantation, kimajinai 木呪（きまじない)
fruit tree ritual, kajuzeme 果樹責（かじゅぜめ）,
..... nari iwai 成祝（なりいわい）
cheering the tree, ki o hayasu 木を囃す（きをはやす）
naruka naranuka なるかならぬか




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Worldwide use

This is a ritual found in other places:

In Romania, there's a traditional Christmas confection called a turta. It is made of many layers of pastry dough, filled with melted sugar or honey, ground walnuts, or hemp seed.
In this tradition, with the making of the cake families enact a lovely little ceremony to assure the fruitfulness of their orchard come spring. When the wife is in the midst of kneading the dough, she follows her husband into the wintry garden.

The man goes from barren tree to tree, threatening to cut each one down. Each time, the wife urges that he spare the tree by saying:
"Oh no, I am sure that this tree will be as heavy with fruit next spring as my fingers are with dough this day."
http://www.candlegrove.com/solstice.html


And in England:

This is the popular image of the traditional folk custom of wassailing fruit trees - a ceremony intended to begin the process of waking the fruit trees from their winter slumber and the first
fertility festival of the folk calendar.

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After dark those taking part proceed down to the orchard, ceremonially bearing the wassail bowl filled with the prepared booze. They also carry large sticks and such items as shotguns, drums,
kettles, pans and whistles - anything which can be used to create lots of noise in fact.

The ceremony generally begins with the tree, usually the oldest and most venerable tree in an orchard, being variously serenaded with traditional "wake up" type of chants and rhymes alternating with speeches by the group's leader in praise of the tree, its fruitfulness in previous years and exhorting it to do even better in the coming year.

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The custom usually continues with the tree or trees being beaten about the trunk (and any branches within reach) with the sticks. This is believed to begin the process of awakening the tree and starting the sap flowing up the trunk. It is accompanied by much shouting and the making of as much noise as possible, and shotguns are commonly fired up into the branches. Again, this is believed to assist the tree in awakening from its winter sleep as well as frightening away any evil spirits which might be lurking in the branches.
http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/wassail.htm

Compiled by Larry Bole


Mulled Mead, Wassail ! and haiku

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Things found on the way

Rural Japan Reality

He had been tending his many orchards for many years. Getting older, things got more difficult and one by one, he had to cut down the many trees in his orchards.
Today I observed the old farmer below in my valley :

winter cold -
he felled his last
apple tree

Winterkälte -
er fällt den letzten
Apfelbaum

© Gabi Greve, January 2007


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HAIKU

成木責きらきら足袋の裏白し
narikizemi kirakira tabi no ura shiroshi

tree incantation -
the white back of my tabi socks
shines and sparkles
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

© sinmik
plaza.rakuten.co.jp/sinmik/diary/?ctgy=7

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教会の牧師来たりて成木責
kyookai no bokushi kitarite narikizeme

the priest from
our local church came too -
tree fertility ritual
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

© www.gendaihaiku.gr.jp/haikukai/result/70_touku.htm



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Related words

***** Saijiki of Japanese Festivals and Ceremonies


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Dainichi Mairi

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. Dainichi Do Hall　大日堂 Legends . :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Visit to the Dainichi Hall (Dainichi Mairi)

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

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Explanation

Festival at the Dainichi Hall in Akita, Kazuno City
秋田県鹿角市大日堂舞楽



Visiting the Dainichi Hall, Dainichi Mairi 大日詣 (だいにちまいり)
... Dainichidoo zaidoo 大日堂祭堂（だいにちどうざいどう）
"Hall Festival" zaidoo 祭堂（ざいどう）

My Details about Buddha Dainichi Nyorai / Vairocana

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The Dainichi-do Shrine Bugaku Dance

Dainichi-do is a Shinto shrine in the Hachimantai area of Kazuno. Its origin and history are shrouded in legends, the original structure was perhaps built about 1500 years ago. Restored in 718 by the emperor Keitai, the court dances and music (called bugaku) dedicated to the completion of the restoration are said to be the origin of those still performed annually at Dainichido on January 2nd.
A series of eleven dances are performed, accompanied by ancient music played on Japanese flutes and drums. The dances and music are a form of folk art with a long tradition in Japan, and have been designated a National Cultural Treasure.
With Komamai Dance, Torimai Dance and more.
© city.kazuno.akita.jp

Dainichi Hall Kagura Bugaku 大日堂舞楽

© PHOTO : Shobunsha Publications

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Things found on the way

O-Take Nyorai お竹如来 and haiku by ISSA

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HAIKU

about Buddha Dainichi Nyorai

白鳥とわれと大日如来像
hakuchoo to ware to Dainichi zoo

the swans and
myself and the statue
of Dainichi Nyorai

Shimizu Shookei 清水逍径

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山笑う秘仏大日如来とか
yama warau hibutsu dainichi nyorai toka

mountains laughing -
the secret statue of
Dainichi Nyorai ... they say

Kanda Shori 金田勝利

All Tr. Gabi Greve

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***** Secret Buddha Statues (hibutsu)

***** Kagura Dance (kagura)

***** Saijiki of Japanese Ceremonies and Festivals

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- #dainichido #dainichi -

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First Day of the Tiger (hatsu tora)

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First Day of the Tiger (hatsu tora)

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

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Explanation

The old Japanese calendar, instead of using the seven days of the week, used twelve different zodiac animals to symbolize each day. So, in a sense, today's 'seven day' week, was once a 'twelve day' period.
The Tiger hour is about 3-5am. Tiger Month is January and Tiger day comes up every 12 days.

The temple Kurama in Kyoto is especially closely related to this day. In Tokyo you can visit the Bishamonten temple in Kagurazaka.


"First Tiger", Hatsu-Tora, 'first' day of the 'tiger'
初寅 (はつとら)

visit to Kurama Temple in Kyoto on the first day of the tiger
Kurama hatsu tora mairi 鞍馬初寅詣（くらまはつとらまいり）
..... Kurama mairi 鞍馬詣（くらままいり)

hatsu tora mairi 初寅詣（はつとらまいり）
"First Tiger", ichi no tora 一の寅（いちのとら）
..... kami no tora no hi 上寅日（かみのとらのひ）
"lucky tiger" fuku tora 福寅（ふくとら）




"rake for good luck" fuku kaki
福掻, 福かき（ふくかき）
a talisman sold at temples during the New Year season




"lowering the basket" fugo oroshi 畚下し, 畚降ろし（ふごおろし）
see below


"lucky centipede", o-fuku mukade
お福むかで（おふくむかで）
At the temple Kurama, live centipedes were sold as good luck talismans. At home, they were put alive in rice liquor to prepare a medicine for centibede bites.


"Kurama Gold Coin", Kurama koban
鞍馬小判（くらまこばん）
"centipede gold coin", mukade koban百足小判, むかで小判（むかでこばん）
If you put these coins in your purse, you will not lack of money in the coming year.


The centipede was also famous for finding gold mines in the mountains, they were seen as protector deities of gold mines; see the LINK below about Bishamonten and the centipede.



Bishamonten and the Centipede Talisman
開運大毘沙門天王守


　© PHOTO : 　ameblo.jp/mukade-koban


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. Kurama Festisvals 鞍馬山 　

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Kurama is a mountain region in the North-West of Kyoto. Legend tells us it is the home of Sojobo, (Sōjōbō (僧正坊), a master king of the long-nosed tengu, who taught swordsmanship to the young Ushiwaka-maru or Shanao, later named Minamoto no Yoshitsune.


Kurama Temple, Kuramadera

In this temple, you can see a pair of tigers which are said to keep the temple safe. In 770, this temple was built by Gantei, disciple of Ganjin (a Chinese monk and a founder of Buddhism in Japan). Gantei dreamed that he climbed up Mt. Kurama led by a white horse at four o’clock in the morning on January 4, 770.

Then a demon attacked him, but a dead tree fell down on the demon and smashed it. The next morning, a statue of Bishamonten, one of the four heavenly kings in Buddhism, was found under the fallen tree. Gantei then built a temple to worship the statue. The date and time of the dream was related to the tiger in Japanese zodiac signs, so there are two tigers placed as messengers of Bishamonten in Kurama temple.

This temple lies deep in the mountains of northern Sakyo Ward and it is a little bit hard to go there, but it is well worth visiting and you will be overpowered by the dynamic tigers.


©　Kyoto University of Foreign Studies


For Bishamonten and the Centipede, see the LINK given below.


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Lowering the Basket (fugo oroshi) at a modern festival


Click for more great photos of a Jizo Bon Festival
　© PHOTO 京の写真館



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Things found on the way

In the Daruma Museum

Kurama Flint Stone and Daruma Carvings


Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Benkei


Tengu and Daruma 天狗とだるま


. Tora トラ　- 虎　- 寅　Tiger Toys .


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HAIKU

Kobayashi Issa tells us


引下す畚の中より雀哉
hiki-orosu fugo no naka yori suzume kana

hauled up
in the bamboo basket...
a sparrow!

Issa

This haiku refers to a custom at a certain Buddhist temple in Kyoto. On the first Day of the Tiger of each year, pilgrims could purchase the temple's famous flint stones by lowering a basket with their money into a hole. Unseen monks below would then exchange the stones for the money. Here, along with or instead of flint stones, a sparrow emerges from the basket.


同じ世をへらへら百疋小ばん哉
onaji yo o hera-hera mukade koban kana

to the same world
one after another...
temple coin souvenirs


梅の花まけにこぼすや畚下し
ume no hana mage ni kobosu ya fugo oroshi

plum blossoms fall
in the hairdo...
lowering the basket



On the year's first Day of the Tiger, pilgrims who went to temples to pray to Bishamon, a god of wealth, acquired amulets that resembled gold coins (koban).
On the first Day of the Tiger of each year, pilgrims could purchase the temple's famous flint stones by lowering a basket with their money into a hole. Unseen monks below would then exchange the stones for the money.

Tr. David Lanoue


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「初寅や櫻寂しき鞍馬寺」
芝友
「初寅や施行焚火に長憩ひ」
王城
「初寅の客一組や貴船茶屋」
草径
「初寅や貴船へ下る小提灯」
青雲


初寅や毘沙門会いに鞍馬まで
hatsu tora ya Bishamon ai ni Kurama made

first day of the tiger -
to meet Bishamonten
I go as far as Kurama
Tr. Gabi Greve

yotchi よっち
© compiled by yotchi よっち

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初寅を明日にひかえて信貴詣で
hatsu tora o asu ni hikaete Shigi moode

tomorrow we have
the first day of the tiger -
visiting Temple Shigisan
Tr. Gabi Greve

. Kei 惠以


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Related words

***** Kurama no hi matsuri 鞍馬の火祭 Kurama Fire Festival

***** Bishamonten and the Centipede


***** Saijiki of Japanese Ceremonies and Festivals


WKD : Tiger, a topic for haiku

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First third of the year (joogen)

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First third of the year (joogen)

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

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Explanation

There are three seasonal changes within a year, following the old Chinese Taoist lore, which has been introduced to Japan. They follow the Asian lunar calendar.
It is a day of prayer for good fortune in the coming year.


© PHOTO
http://shinowazuri.cocolog-nifty.com/memo/cat2525363/index.html


First third of the year, jogen, joogen 上元
Starting on January 15
This is also the day when the "Small New Year" (koshoogatsu 小正月) is celebrated in Japan. It is celebrated in many Chinese comminities in Japan, like in Yokohama and Nagasaki.


Middle third of the year, chugen, chuugen 中元
Starting on July 15
O-chuugen.
Half of the year has passed safely, people do penance and exchange gifts. Some rituals are performed for the festival of the souls, o-bon　お盆.


Last third of the year, kagen 下元
Starting on October 15
This day is no longer celebrated in Japan.

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More kigo for the FIRST third celebration, JOOGEN

shongan しょんがん、 genshoosai 元宵祭（げんしょうさい）、 genshoosetsu 元宵節（げんしょうせつ）、genshoo 元宵（げんしょう）、
joogen e 上元会（じょうげんえ）
joogen no hi 上元の日（じょうげんのひ）day of Jogen, January 15genseki 元夕（げんせき )

ceremony of praying for good luck, kifuku sai 祈福祭（きふくさい）
changing the candles, roosoku kae 蝋燭替（ろうそくかえ）


Click HERE for more photos !



. Candles (roosoku) and Haiku 　



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More kigo for the SECOND third celebration, CHUUGEN

observance kigo for mid-autumn


chuugen 中元 (ちゅうげん) mid-year presents
..... o-chuugen お中元（おちゅうげん）
chuugen zootoo 中元贈答（ちゅうげんぞうとう）
exchanging gifts for chuugen
chuugen uridashi 中元売出（ちゅうげんうりだし）

and in relation to the ancestor festival O-Bon

bonrei 盆礼（ぼんれい）curtesy gift for O-Bon
bon no kairei 盆の廻礼（ぼんのかいれい）
bon mimai 盆見舞（ぼんみまい) curtesy visit at O-Bon
bon no okurimono 盆の贈物（ぼんのおくりもの）
obligatory present for O-Bon


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humanity kigo for late summer

Giving presents and making obligatory visits is common in summer.
This co-incides somehow with the Chuugen season, but the lunar calender puts them in a different season for haiku. Usually you bring the "Chuugen" presents during this visit.
It is also customary to send postcards to those you can not visit, almost as the New Year greeting cards, and the post office has a great selection of these cards.





shochuu mimai 暑中見舞 (しょちゅうみまい)
obligatory visit during the hottest time of the year
doyoo mimai 土用見舞（どようみまい）obligatory visit during the hot doyoo days.
natsu mimai 夏見舞（なつみまい） obligatory visit in summer


kaki teate 夏期手当 (かきてあて)
bonus during the summer season
In the spirit of CHUUGEN most companies give some extra bonus money to their employees.


.SAIJIKI ... HUMANITY
Kigo for Summer 　


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observance kigo for early winter


gegen 下元 (かげん) last third of the year
gegen no setsu 下元の節（かげんのせつ）



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Things found on the way


Presents for all seasons

To give presents and acknowledge one's duty to others is an important factor in traditional Japanese society. Give and take are very closely related and if you get something, you have to give something back (o-kaeshi　お返し), for your neighbour, friend, on the workplace or from a family member.
Giving a small gift is a great way to express your gratitude toward the other person.

Twice a year there are "official" times for giving gifts to all that have been helpful to you during the past six months.
In former times you had to carry the present yourself, combined with a short polite visit to the receiver.
Nowadays, this is easier. Many department stores and shopping malls offer seasonal presents and send them for you, including a small greeting card.

oseibo, o-seibo 歳暮 present for the end of the year
Usually given from December 20 till the end of the year. This present does not need a revanche present.
It started off as a gift from the sub-family (bunke 分家) to the main family (honke 本家）to give an offering for the family altar in the main family home and was an opportunity for the families to get together and celebrate.

MORE
. WASHOKU
Obligatory Presents for all seasons



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HAIKU

どら焼も虎焼きもきてお中元
dorayaki mo torayaki mo kite o-chuugen

present for mid-year -
I got some Dorayaki
and also Torayaki

Iijima Haruko 飯島晴子 (1921 - 2000)
Tr. Gabi Greve


This is a play with words of DORA and TORA (Tiger).


torayaki 虎焼き Dorayaki in form of a little tiger

. WASHOKU
Dorayaki cakes 　　





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Related words


seibo 歳暮（せいぼ）、oseibo お歳暮（おせいぼ）
giving Year End money or presents


***** © The Asian Lunar Calendar


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First Poetry Meeting

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First Poetry Meeting (utakai hajime )

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

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Explanation

First poetry meeting at court, utakai hajime
歌会始 (うたかいはじめ)
..... uta gokai hajime 歌御会始（うたごかいはじめ）

first waka poetry meeting
..... waka gokai hajime 和歌御会始（わかごかいはじめ）
..... gokai hajime 御会始（ごかいはじめ）

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A New Year Poetry Reading is a gathering of people who get together to read a collection of poems on a common theme to a wider audience. This practice was already in usage during the Nara Period, and became known through the famous volume of Japanese poetry, the Manyoshu.

An Imperial Poetry Reading is the same as the above-mentioned description, the only difference being that the poetry reading is convened by His Majesty the Emperor. As part of the annual events at the Imperial Palace, every month a Poetry Reading came to be held. Of these monthly Poetry Readings, the Imperial Poetry Reading was held as the first such party of the New Year, and was given the name Uta Gokai Hajime.

The origins of the Ceremony of the Utakai Hajime are unclear. During the mid-Kamakura period, on 15 January 1267, Emperor Kameyama convened a Poetry Reading at the Imperial Palace, which is recorded in the Gaiki Nikki as an internal ceremony. Since that time, records of the New Year's Poetry Reading can be found down through the ages. From such evidence, it can be surmised that the origins of the Ceremony of the Utakai Hajime are traceable to the mid-Kamakura period.

The Ceremony of the Utakai Hajime came to be held almost every year through the Edo period, and after the Meiji Restoration, the first Ceremony of the Utakai Hajime during the reign of Emperor Meiji was held in January 1869. Since then, among various reforms in ceremonies, the Utakai Hajime has continued to be held.

The Ceremony of the Utakai Hajime at the Imperial Palace boasts a long history and represents a ceremonial culture that has become more sophisticated with the reforms of the Meiji and post-war eras, to become a cultural event with national participation in a way that is unique in the world. Tanka poetry is said to be at the heart of all traditional culture in Japan. These tanka poems are heard and read not only in Japan, but also throughout the world, and the ceremony demonstrates their power to bind the people together with the Imperial Family through this annual ceremony at the Imperial Palace, which is something to be truly praised and lauded.





The
Ceremony of the Utakai Hajime is attended by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, and poems recited include those chosen from submissions by the general public, poems of the selectors themselves, and poems by professional poets. Finally, the poems of the Imperial Family, Her Majesty the Empress and His Majesty the Emperor are recited. Members of the Imperial Family, including His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince are present at the Ceremony of the Utakai Hajime, and other audience members include the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, members of the Japan Academy of Art and the members of the public whose poems have been chosen.

The ceremony is performed through several participants, each with special titles: the dokuji (master of ceremonies), koji (reader of all poems), hassei (singer of poems from the first poem), and kosho (accompanying singer to the hassei for poems from the second poem).
©　www.kunaicho.go.jp



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way

. Man'yōshū 万葉集 "Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves" .

Man'yōshū (万葉集, "Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves")
is the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, compiled sometime after 759 AD during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in a series of compilers, is today widely believed to be Ōtomo no Yakamochi, although numerous other theories have been proposed. The collection contains poems ranging from AD 347 (poems #85-89) through 759 (#4516), the bulk of them representing the period after 600. The precise significance of the title is not known with certainty.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !




Manyooshuu 万葉集 Manyoshu, Manyo'shu

As you travel on,
if the mist arises white
along the seashore
by your shelter, think of it
as a sigh I breathe at home

Anonymous 736 C.E.


source :　www.rarebooksinjapan.com

TAKI, SEIICHI and others,
The Manyoshu [Manyoushuu].
One Thousand Poems,
Selected and Translated from the Japanese.
Iwanami Shoten for Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkoka
As the title pages states, this book has the text in romaji, an introduction, notes, maps, biographical notes and a chronological table.
The full publishing information for this book is contained on a tipped-in slip at the back of the book; without that it is impossible to distinguish between the first printing and later impressions.

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HAIKU



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Related words

***** First Court Rituals


***** Song (uta) and Haiku

- #manyoshu -
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Yui Big Drum

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Big Drum Festival (O-Taiko Matsuri )

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

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Explanation

Yui Big Drum Festival, O-Taiko Matsuri お太鼓祭り

豊積神社お太鼓祭り




Shrine Toyozumi Jinja 豊積神社

The enshrined deity is Konohana Sakuyahime no Mikoto.
Opinion about its foundation is divided, but the information board in the precinct explains that it originally enshrined Toyoukehime, the deity of rich harvest, during the 7th century, but according to popularization of Asama worship (worship of the volcano god), the chief priest received the oracle in 791 and it began to enshrine Konohana Sakuyahime no Mikoto.

In another historical record, it is written that the shrine was founded in 791. In either case, the shrine was listed on Engishiki (codes and procedures on national rites and prayers) in the Heian period (794-1192) as a shrine to worship Asama no Okami and was also called Toyozumi no Asama no Daimyojin.

Otaiko Matsuri Festival held for three days from the New Year’s Day, originates in the old episode that Saka no ue Tamuramaro dropped in at this shrine on his way back from the conquering battles with the Emishi and had a feast to thank the god for his victory.

185 Machiyahara, Yui-cho, Ihara-gun, Shizuoka Prefecture 421-3105
source :　nippon-kichi.jp





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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


Big Drums and Ritual Instruments
Daruma Museum


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HAIKU


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Related words

***** Asama Mountain in Shinano
Mount Asama.


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