Sept. 23rd, 2010:
Rested from the previous night's festivities, people head out for the 2nd day of the festival in town. But before the dance is to continue again at night, there are many activities during the day this time to celebrate. Most of these revolve around the local shrine, Yoyogi Hachiman Shrine (代々木八幡宮, よよぎはちまんぐう). Yoyogi Hachiman Shrine is a Shinto (Japanese indigenous spiritualism) shrine. The shrine itself was made in 1212 by a member of the Genji clan as a branch of the famous Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura. [1] The Genji clan were in control of large parts of Japan during the early parts of the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). The period named after the government set up in the Genji clan's home of Kamakura. I will go into more detail and explanation about Kamakura, the Kamakura period and the Genji and Hōjō clans that were in power during this period in a future post when I talk about my trip to Kamakura. Hachiman is a god of war in Japan and the shrine here and in Kamakura are dedicated to this god. While it was the patron god of the Genji clan during the time of the Kamakura era, it developed into a local deity for the people of Yoyogi. [2] During the day of the festival there are many stands and events happening at the Yoyogi Hachiman Shrine.
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Right next to the shrine entrance, you can see more of the lanterns and some of the stands that take over the shrine on the festival day. The one in front is selling bags of cotton candy I believe. The one on the left selling fried squid
(いかやき). いか meaning squid, and やき meaning fried. |
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The steps leading up to the entrance of the shrine. The entrance to Shinto Shrines always being marked by torii
(鳥居, とりい) or spiritual gates. |
We ended up missing most of one of the main festivities for the day. On this day, Mikoshi are paraded through the town. Mikoshi (神輿, みこし) are portable Shinto shrines that carry divine spirits. These get brought out on festival days and paraded around town, carried on the shoulders from long wooden beam supports under the mikoshi.
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| Yoyogi Hachiman's Mikoshi (the large gilded building-like structure in the back). This is after the mikoshi is paraded through town and is on display at the shrine only on this day |
Besides the parading of the mikoshi, the other main events on the day of the festival happen at the shrine, along with stands selling popular food and drinks, as well as traditional festival games.
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| The shrine, normally more closed than this, is open for special services and prayers on this day. |
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| On the stage to the right of the shrine was a traditional performance. |
Besides the various events, the shrine is packed with other stands selling various food and drink as well as traditional festival games to play.
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| Catching pets to bring home is a popular festival game. |
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| Now for food and drink. Baked fresh water fish on a stick and a variety of tea and beer. Alcohol and religious institutions are not mutually exclusive here in Japan. In fact, for festivals it almost feels inclusive as lots of stands sell alcohol everywhere within the shrine. |
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| Baked sweet potatoes. |
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Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki. Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き, おこのみやき) is a Japanese fried pancake / crepe with a variety of different ingredients depending on the region. The common ingredients are cabbage and batter, and then a variety of other ingredients, such as meats, vegetables and noodles can be added before baking. Okonomiyaki meaning okonomi (お好み, おこのみ), what you like and yaki, fried.
Takoyaki (タコヤキ) is octopus fried in a dough ball. Tako (蛸, たこ, タコ) being octopus and yaki (ヤキ) again being fried. The okonomiyaki stand is on the left, the takoyaki stand is on the right. |
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The glorious yakitori (焼き鳥, やきとり). A varitey of different meats fired on a stick, usually with two different flavors. The first being しお being salt flavor, and the second being しょうゆ, or soy sauce flavor. yaki meaning fried and tori
(鳥, とり) meaning bird meat, although other meats are used for yakitori). |
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| After seeing so much food, we had to get some for ourselves. We got a variety of yakitori and some beer to go with it. |
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| What is normally a quiet wooded area, becomes filled with the tents of stands on festival day. |
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| With night quickly approaching we make our way back to town for the Awa Odori dance. |
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| One last look back at the shrine. |
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| The dancers getting ready before the start. |
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| Unfortunately it rained the whole day and dampened the dancing a little bit on the second day. |
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| This dancer had an inventive solution for the rain. |
Unfortunately the rain had become too much on the 2nd night and the festival was cut short, only after an hour of dancing. Even though it was cut short, the 2 days of the festival were an incredible experience, one of the best I've had living in Japan. One of the things that stood out for me in the dance was how difficult it must be for the women who perform it. While it might not be obvious in the pictures and video I took, this is the stance for the female dancers the whole time.
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| The geta (下駄, げた), wooden sandals worn by the female dancers are tilted forward and towards the ground during the whole performance. The balance and stamina needed to dance in that stance for a few hours must be incredible making the dance much more impressive than at first glance. |
The festival was an incredible experience and a lot of fun. The lyrics for the song of the Awa Odori dance are a good motto for the whole dance and festival itself.
"It's a fool who dances and a fool who watches! If both are fools, you might as well have fun dancing!" [3]
References:
1. Sumiko Enbutsu, "It's a Stroll in a Park to Find the Old Yoyogi," The Japan Times.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20041203se.html.
2. Ibid.
3. "Awa-Odori Folk Dance Festival in Tokushima," Japan National Tourism Organization.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/attractions/event/traditionalevents/a46_fes_awa.html.
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