Matsuri, Ancient and Modern

The 24^th November issue of Jinja Shinpō included two articles about “new” matsuri.

One was based at Yoshida Jinja (吉田神社) in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. The autumn reisai (例祭), Grand Matsuri, is already registered by Mito City as an Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and involves one mikoshi (神輿) and seven dashi (山車) floats processing around the city. However, a couple of centuries ago, back in the Edo period, it also involved taking the kami down the river to the sea. According to the article, this stopped because of an “argument” (quotation marks in the original).

It seems that the mikoshi and dashi are now organised by a group separate from the jinja, which is common for matsuri that have been designated cultural properties of some sort — it makes it less complicated for the local or national government to support them. That group celebrated its 50^th anniversary this year, and so a couple of years ago its leaders started talking to the priests about reviving the river part of the ceremony. Unfortunately, the jinja had lost all its records in the bombing of Mito at the end of the war, and so the matsuri had to be pieced together with the assistance of Kashima Jingū (鹿島神宮), which has a similar matsuri that did not get stopped because of an argument.

They managed to put something together that was as close to tradition as they could manage, and there is a video on the jinja homepage. The event was a success, and people are talking about doing it again — once every few years, even if they can’t do it every year.

The other was at Shijōnawatë Jinja (四條畷神社) in Shijōnawatë, Osaka Prefecture.

A couple of years ago, the chief priest started a practice of climbing the mountain behind the jinja to make a request of the kami. (The mountain appears to be part of the precincts.) Petitioners make a donation at the jinja for a small wooden board (it is not described as an ema) to write their request on and a certificate showing that they made the request. They then write their request and pay their respects at the main sanctuary, before climbing the mountain (hill — 314 metres), and hanging the board at the top. (If someone is not able to climb the mountain, the jinja staff will do it for them.) The colour of the certificate changes every month, and if you collect a full set, this is called “full request mountain climb” (満願登山), and you get a t-shirt. The first time it is black and white, while if you do it again, you can get a blue and red one. I suppose more colours may become available once the programme has been running for long enough for someone to get a third full set.

When the chief priest started this, hardly anyone had been climbing the mountain to make a request, but it is now up to an average of 200 people a month, and as of October this year seventy had achieved the “full request mountain climb”. So the chief priest decided to have a gathering for them. On October 13^th, about forty of them gathered at the jinja, and after a formal ceremony in the prayer hall, they climbed the mountain to pick up litter. At the top of the mountain, they all ate packed lunches provided by the jinja, and talked about how to make it even more popular.

The custom of climbing mountains to make requests of the kami goes back a long way, although most scholars think that the idea was introduced by Buddhist priests. So, although this particular activity is new, it is a revival of activities with a long tradition, just like the visit to the sea at Yoshida Jinja.

The creation of new matsuri drawing on existing traditions is itself a tradition in Shinto.