(Ms.) Tomo Kimura’s Translation/Tokyo Notes

Is out already.

I actually visited Izumo Oyashiro shrine spring of last year, so I will post photos from my trip as vols 6-8 come out.

This year there are three rooster days in November, and today was the second “Tori no ichi”. I went to Hanazono shrine in Shinjuku. The pre-festival is held the day before from evening to 2AM, and today the festival is held from noonish to 2AM.

There were about 60 stalls selling good-luck kumade and about 200 stalls selling food, drinks, toys, and various other goods.

The good-luck kumade stalls look like this:

On the counter are the smallish items:

And on the wall are the huge ones:

Here’s a closeup of one of the bigger kumade:

Omiki

Literally “kami-sake”, it is believed that if you drink this, the powers of the kami will directly enter your body.

Torii

When you pass through the torii, you should walk either on the left or the right, as the center path is reserved for the kami.　　Beyond the torii is the kami’s territory.

Omikoshi

Before the omikoshi is carried at a festival, a ceremony is performed to put the kami spirit’s onto the omikoshi (since the kami resides in the inner shrine). After the festival is over, a ceremony is performed to remove the kami’s spirit from the omikoshi back into the inner shrine.

Kagura Bell

Used when dancing the kagura, and has 12 or 15 small bells attached to a handle. Also called the shrine maiden bell, because shrine maidens also use this when dancinｇ in front of a kami.

Here’s an online store that sells all sorts of items used at Shinto shrines, including kagura bells.

The leaves Nanami is holding

Nanami is holding sakaki (cleyera japonica) leaves. It’s a plant that is frequently used in Shinto rituals, and is also held whild dancing the kagura.

I went to the annual festival of Yoyogi Hachiman Shrine (which is near Shinjuku) in September. This year was the shrine’s 800th anniversary festival.

I was lucky enough to catch a omikoshi before it left the shopping street right in front of the train station:

The men and women wearing matching happi coats then started carrying the omikoshi to the shrine. In this photo you can see the small torii on the omikoshi.

The paper lanterns in the first photo were carried by people, preceding the omikoshi:

The shrine entrance was lined with stalls. There’re very steep stone steps from here to the hall of worship. The omikoshi was carried up there, and a Shinto priest performed purification rites on it.