A
matsuri is a Shinto festival that is celebrated at different times throughout the year in Japan, but in summer they seem to be more frequent. They range in scale from the modest small neighborhood ones to very elaborate famous ones as well. I always wanted to try to participate in one and just today, I found the chance. I often go to Yotsuya Sanchome to study (since there is a Starbucks there :P) and the other day I saw the festival registration booth was still open. I read about foreigners participating in them, but I was still a bit reticent to apply. But yesterday after noticing a lanky, red-haired kid (clearly non-Japanese) participating, I felt the waters were safe. I went to the booth and asked if could help out on the following day to which I received an "OK desu". After buying some festival wear, namely
tabi (toe-split shoes) and a
hantako (traditional short pants) I was all set. They said they would lend me the
hanten (jacket) since it costs about 300 bucks to buy, thankfully.
I arrived the next day at 5pm and after getting in costume (with the help of some local store owners who sold me the festival wear), was offered some beer and sake as preparation : ) . This was my first time helping to carry an
omikoshi and so I was a bit nervous since it looked rather difficult. Basically, a group of men (and some women too) carry the omikoshi (a large wooden platform) on their shoulders around the neighborhood for several hours. On top of the platform is a relic from the shrine which is believed to enhouse the kamisama (or patron God of that Jinja/Shrine). It's kind of like giving the diety a ride around the streets and bestowing good luck to all the neighborhood businesses. It's rather heavy and at each business we stopped and danced while supporting it on our shouders. It's believed that the more you sway and dance, the more the kamisama is entertained and thus, the more luck is bestowed. Although it was quite a struggle to carry for so long on one's shoulders, everyone did so laughing and smiling ...
The one thing keeping everyone going was the fact that every hour or so (the event lasted about 4 hours), we got to take a break, put down the omikoshi, and enjoy some more beers and food. Towards the end, everyone was so tired (and a bit tipsy) and so it became really hard to keep the float moving in an orderly way. But despite that, it never fell and everyone gave all their effort.
One neat thing is that the whole time while carrying the omikoshi, certain people chant one phrase "
essa" and the other chant "
yoisa" in repetiton. After a while, the words started to blend together and a interesting transformation takes place, like duality slips away for just a moment...its hard to describe, but it was pretty cool.
Everyone was very kind to me, making sure I was doing OK and offering food and drinks. I was honored to be allowed to participate.Even the
erai hito (elders) expressed their thanks to me and that was really special for me. I was invited back for next year's so I have time to practice and heal up, haha. My shoulders feel like someone took a baseball bat to them, so I am gonna take it easy for a few days. Totally worth the pain though. I feel so lucky to have had that experience. : )
