Roasted soybeans scattering by Shimo-gamo Shrine



February 3 is the event of the start of spring, “setsubun”, as the folklore culture of Japan next to new-year, “syogatsu” on January 1. On the setsubun day Japanese people scatter roasted soybeans and loudly say “fu-ku-wa-u-chi (luck, be inside), o-ni-wa-so-to (demons, go away)”, or recently we eat sushi rolled in nori, “eho-maki”. You can look at its ritual at any large famous shrines on February 3.




I will explain the meaning of roasted soybeans scattering on the setsubun day. Scattering roasted soybeans is to purify bad vibes. January 3 is the last day of the year in the old Japanese calendar. Then demons are the comparison of the bad vibes accumulated through out a year, and luck is a lucky deity of the new year.




My best recollection of setsubun is the one in Kyoto. I worked at a bank branch nearby Shimo-gamo Shrine. Banks in Japan close at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, so we welcomed ritual people from Shimo-gamo Shrine into the bank which had no bank-customers after closing time. They, who were a shrine priest and two shrine maidens, scattered roasted soybeans and said the typical words to the many computer machines in the bank, thereby purifying our bank. We enjoyed the polarity between the vivid and folklore ritual by people wearing traditional shrine priest or maiden clothes before our eyes and the modern-day bank computers, but we had hard unusual work to clean away the hidden roasted soybeans beneath the machines after the ritual, and we barely eliminated them.

Shino-gamo Shrine



Shimo-gamo Shrine, which is one of the world heritage sites, is in the north-east of Kyoto City. Shimo-gamo Shrine has a lot of beautiful old architecture, a small beautiful shrine grove known as “Tadasu-no-Mori” and some fields flowing with mysterious energy, “power spot”. For travelers, not only foreigners but also Japanese, Shimo-gamo Shrine is one of the good sight seeing places in Kyoto.



Actually Shimo-gamo Shrine is wonderful, and yet it has hidden historical meaning. So I want to write about it from a historical view point.




The origin of Shimo-gamo Shrine is the regional house of the Kamo Family, which governed this region, Kyoto. The time when it was built is unknown, but it is known that it had already been built in the 1st century BC. Then Kyoto had been governed by the Kamo Family until the year of 794 when Yamato Imperial Court moved to Kyoto from Nara (exactly speaking, via the relocation of Nagaoka Capital). Yamato Imperial Court had honored Shimo-Gamo Shrine in the Nara period and continued to honor it after the relocation of the Kyoto Capital. In this connection, the regional house of Yamato Imperial Court is Ise Shrine. This means that Yamato Imperial Court coexists with the former governor’s shrine, which is the regional house of the Kamo Family, in Kyoto. Coexistence with a former land keeper is in opposition to purge of the former land keeper. Is there a capital city which coexists with another regional house of a former governor’s family? In London? Paris? Rome? New York?

A new relationship between Shimo-gamo Shrine and I




In my personal affairs, our family will have a new relationship with Shimo-gamo Shrine. My daughter plans to have her wedding at Shimo-gamo Shrine. Our family went to Shimo-gamo Shrine in order to look at it previously on a cold day in winter. Some marriage ceremonies were held, brides and grooms generated such bright joy that many visitors who had no relation with them became happy. A little bit of twinkle snow came from heaven, it added beauty and celebration from a deity to their ceremonies.




After leaving the shrine and relaxing at a café, unfortunately, the falling snow strengthened in force. Finally, the snow pelted down in the wind, turning the town into a white world with a smear of dark gray slate. My favorite car had no snow tires nor snow chains. Furthermore, I have the experience of my car spinning around like a coffee cup in an amusement park on a high way covered with snow. There is no way that I could have driven a car on any snowy roads since then.We had to hurry up going back to our house with the good image of the Shimo-gamo Shrine Wedding.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Karuta competitions by the 100 Poems

Image
I saw on TV news that many young foreigners competed karuta competitions by the 100 Poems. I was surprised at that, as well as I was interested why they played karuta competitions and why they knew how to play. Because karuta competitions are so difficult that the number of those who play the game isn’t large even in Japan. Eventually, I never have played karuta competitions. Incidentally, the 100 Poems, “hyakunin-issyu” in Japanese, are familiar with Japanese People. Japanese people in most cases learn the 100 Poems in their junior high-schools or high-schools, and they sometimes play a game of competing accuracy and quickness with several people that players grab a card written with the only second phrases of a poem from cards on tatami listening to full phrases of a poem. Of course I learned the 100 Poems in my junior high school and sometimes played the game, but I was a weak player of karuta games. Karuta competitions are a severer sport than the game above, so the sport dema
Read more

Warikan Custom In Japan

Image
Culture in a country is the result made by the specific customs based on the thoughts of the people, if it is true, to try to look out for the specific custom of a country where you visit is a joyful challenge during your traveling time. When I visited foreign countries I experienced the different customs from Japan and I was happy to know it. Many anthropologists say that Japanese culture is especially different from cultures of other countries. Then foreigners visiting Japan will feel pleasure by finding out the different customs from their countries. Warikan is the one specific Japanese custom. Warikan is to split the bill among members who ate dishes and drank in restaurants and it is generally a popular custom in Japan. I have a foreign friend who has been in Japan from Australia and I sometimes have drinking parties with him. He knows Japanese customs but perhaps his true sense depends on western customs. At paying the bill when I suggested “sloping warikan” to him as a mat
Read more

Satsuma-biwa music

Image
Hiromi Hakozaki, who is a Satsuma-biwa player, played biwa music at the machiya of Onishi-tune-shoten and explained how biwa instruments became its present form. I want to write about one of Japan’s specific sound instruments according to her explanation. Before my explanation I want to mention my impression after listening to her play, I said to her in this way. “The sounds of Satsuma-biwa is calm in terms that it allows a human physiological phenomenon like that blood pressure will be peaceful, but is very deep in terms that it lets the human spirit vibrate strongly.” Biwa v.s. Lute Biwa(Japanese lute) came far from Persia in the 8th century via The Silk Road. The picture above is an ancient Persian lute instrument(front and back) which is stored as a national treasure in Syosoin next to Todaiji or Kasuga Shrine in Nara City from the 8th century. There is an opinion that the lute in Syosoin is the original biwa(lute). And the long history for thirteen centuries in Japan tra
Read more