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Permalink: http://escapist5.blogspot.com/2007/05/essence-of-edo-kanda-matsuri.htmlIt's Kanda Matsuri (神田祭) from yesterday till 15 May.
Oh, well then, what's the big deal?
Of course it's a big deal. After all, this has been one of the biggest festivals in Edo (now Tokyo). What's more, it's more worth a look especially in odd years. This year, 2007, for instance. Because the festival had been too extravagant in the olden days, the Tokugawa Shogun decreed that it should only be held at a grand scale during odd years but at a modest scale during even years. Anyway, I missed the main event, which was held on Saturday; didn't know about the festival until I saw the news report in the evening. Well, better than missing the whole event.
The Kanda Matsuri is held at the Kanda Myōjin Shrine (神田明神) in Ochanomizu, which is one station away from Kanda (神田) on the JR Chūō Line (JR 中央線). (Actually, Ochanomizu is also part of Kanda, the city centre of Edo. The shrine is also within walking distance from Akihabara, Japan's biggest town specializing in electrical goods, and also home to Japan's otaku sub-culture.)
As for some background history on Edo...
During the Edo Period when Japan was said to have three capitals, Edo was the capital of the Tokugawa Shogunate (while Kyoto was the residence of the emperor, and Osaka as the unofficial capital). Even till now, there's still dispute over whether Kyoto, or Tokyo is the official capital. For the same reason, Japanese from the Kansai region still hold pride over their Kanto counterpart.
Okay, I digressed. But before the photos, let's have a brief Japanese lesson.
Firstly, we have, 人. This is the kanji, hito, meaning "people". Then, there's this, word ごみ. Gomi, meaning, "rubbish". Combine these two words, and you get 人ごみ. Which means...?
... something like this.
Not "human rubbish" but "crowd".
Hongō Dōri (本郷通り), the main street which led to the shrine, was terribly crowded, as expected. (Any sane person who has better things to do would avoid visiting the place.) All you see is just heads and more heads...
Unless... if you climb up the railing by the sidewalk for a better view. The police were busy manning the "human traffic". They're not going to stop you unless you're trying to get onto the police patrol car. (A guy really did attempt to do that.)
Portable shrines, mikoshi (神輿) were brought to the Kanda Myōjin shrine. Photo taken while standing on the railing, leaning against the lampost, trying my best not to fall head first onto the road, and getting stomped by the mikoshi-bearing guys.
Note the delicate design of the mikoshi. It's normally designed as a miniature version of a shrine and has a golden phoenix "roosting" on the apex.
The festival wasn't much different from the Kurayami Matsuri I went to in Fuchū last year. But unlike the Kurayami Matsuri, there was no Taiko procession in the Kanda Matsuri. Perhaps they had it the day before. One thing special about this festival, though, is the two-wheeled dashi (山車). They used to be common design for dashi during the Edo Period but the floats nowadays have at least three wheels, for easier manouvring. I looked for the two-wheeled floats but unfortunately, couldn't see any.
One thing that I liked the most was the taiko (太鼓) performance. The stacatto beats, the energetic movements of the drummers; in a way, it gives me the same feeling as in watching summer firework displays (花火). (By the way, I hope I won't miss the Sumidagawa fireworks display this summer. 28 of July. Make note, make note...)
My first encounter with real-life geisha's (芸者). They were present for the ceremony.
This cute little soba monster (check out his "soba hair"), was brought into the shrine the day before. As mentioned earlier, the main even was held on Saturday. Looks like I really did miss the grand parade. Sniff, sniff.
Anyway, there's another matsuri coming up this weekend; Sanja matsuri (三社祭). This time it's in Asakusa (浅草) and it is no less grander than the Kanda Matsuri, for it's also another of the three main festivals of the city of Edo. Well, I guess I'll go and have a look if I managed to finish my revision for next week's maths exam!
Oh, well then, what's the big deal?
Of course it's a big deal. After all, this has been one of the biggest festivals in Edo (now Tokyo). What's more, it's more worth a look especially in odd years. This year, 2007, for instance. Because the festival had been too extravagant in the olden days, the Tokugawa Shogun decreed that it should only be held at a grand scale during odd years but at a modest scale during even years. Anyway, I missed the main event, which was held on Saturday; didn't know about the festival until I saw the news report in the evening. Well, better than missing the whole event.
The Kanda Matsuri is held at the Kanda Myōjin Shrine (神田明神) in Ochanomizu, which is one station away from Kanda (神田) on the JR Chūō Line (JR 中央線). (Actually, Ochanomizu is also part of Kanda, the city centre of Edo. The shrine is also within walking distance from Akihabara, Japan's biggest town specializing in electrical goods, and also home to Japan's otaku sub-culture.)
As for some background history on Edo...
During the Edo Period when Japan was said to have three capitals, Edo was the capital of the Tokugawa Shogunate (while Kyoto was the residence of the emperor, and Osaka as the unofficial capital). Even till now, there's still dispute over whether Kyoto, or Tokyo is the official capital. For the same reason, Japanese from the Kansai region still hold pride over their Kanto counterpart.
Okay, I digressed. But before the photos, let's have a brief Japanese lesson.
Firstly, we have, 人. This is the kanji, hito, meaning "people". Then, there's this, word ごみ. Gomi, meaning, "rubbish". Combine these two words, and you get 人ごみ. Which means...?
... something like this.
Not "human rubbish" but "crowd".Hongō Dōri (本郷通り), the main street which led to the shrine, was terribly crowded, as expected. (Any sane person who has better things to do would avoid visiting the place.) All you see is just heads and more heads...
Unless... if you climb up the railing by the sidewalk for a better view. The police were busy manning the "human traffic". They're not going to stop you unless you're trying to get onto the police patrol car. (A guy really did attempt to do that.)
Portable shrines, mikoshi (神輿) were brought to the Kanda Myōjin shrine. Photo taken while standing on the railing, leaning against the lampost, trying my best not to fall head first onto the road, and getting stomped by the mikoshi-bearing guys.
Note the delicate design of the mikoshi. It's normally designed as a miniature version of a shrine and has a golden phoenix "roosting" on the apex.
The festival wasn't much different from the Kurayami Matsuri I went to in Fuchū last year. But unlike the Kurayami Matsuri, there was no Taiko procession in the Kanda Matsuri. Perhaps they had it the day before. One thing special about this festival, though, is the two-wheeled dashi (山車). They used to be common design for dashi during the Edo Period but the floats nowadays have at least three wheels, for easier manouvring. I looked for the two-wheeled floats but unfortunately, couldn't see any.
One thing that I liked the most was the taiko (太鼓) performance. The stacatto beats, the energetic movements of the drummers; in a way, it gives me the same feeling as in watching summer firework displays (花火). (By the way, I hope I won't miss the Sumidagawa fireworks display this summer. 28 of July. Make note, make note...)
My first encounter with real-life geisha's (芸者). They were present for the ceremony.
This cute little soba monster (check out his "soba hair"), was brought into the shrine the day before. As mentioned earlier, the main even was held on Saturday. Looks like I really did miss the grand parade. Sniff, sniff.Anyway, there's another matsuri coming up this weekend; Sanja matsuri (三社祭). This time it's in Asakusa (浅草) and it is no less grander than the Kanda Matsuri, for it's also another of the three main festivals of the city of Edo. Well, I guess I'll go and have a look if I managed to finish my revision for next week's maths exam!
- May 13, 2007, Sunday -
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