|
Japan Guide: Oku Mikawa no Hana Matsuri
The Tenryu River, sourced deep in the Japan Alps, runs near the point where Aichi, Nagano and Shizuoka meet along its long journey to the ocean. More than half of its distance covered before reaching this area, the stream still meanders bubbling and splashing and eating the valley deeper and deeper. Small towns and villages are spotted along on the valley in this region of Okumikawa, which is renowned for a local festival, the Hana-matsuri or Flower Festival. It is said that the origin of the festival was from mountain ascetics during Kamakura era or Muromachi era about 700 years ago. The Japanese Government designates it as Juuyou-mukei-minzoku-bunkazai (Important local cultural heritage). Hana-matsuri is held in 17 different places in the region one by one from this time of year until March next year. We visited a village to see one of Hana-matsuri last weekend.
After driving for nearly two hours from Okazaki, mountains have already started putting their autumn clothes on from the head down, while in Okazaki it seems trees still can't decide whether to change. Entering Toei-cho, we found Oni figures, the symbol of Hana-matsuri, painted or carved here and there in places such as the front gate of the local town office, walls of the tunnel, and signs of local restaurants. It seemed that the community as a whole wanted to give notice of Hana-matsuri to the everyone passing by on the main road. In such a place far from the city, We didn't see any konbini or any big supermarkets like the one next to Yamasa. There are small papa-mama shops like a vegetable shop, a home appliance shop, a hardware store etc., most of which seemed unchanged from the previous generation. Although we managed to find a video cassette for recording the festival, it cost double the price in Okazaki.
We needed to go deeper into the mountains to reach the village halfway up Mt. Osuzu where Hana-matsuri is held this time. You can see some houses and warehouses that remain almost the same as they were in Edo era. Some city people may come to this area for hiking or for gathering edible wild plants but few tourists seem to visit the village except this annual event.
Old communities in Japan usually have a tutelary shrine (to a local god) apart from the residential area. It often stands quietly in the hidden and gloomy woods as if avoiding the eyes of others. While they try to promote local events and to attract more tourists to come on the one hand, on the other the event looked so solemn and mysterious that you might feel kind of detached as an outsider. Luckily someone originally from the village had invited us so we were didn't feel like that. During the time science still wasn't developed as much as now, people had no choice but pray to God for good health and rich harvest and that is the origin of the festival. Since then such festivals have been continued for centuries as a means of community bonding and otherwise rare entertainment.
The form of the festival still remains the same starting with a ceremony of prayer by a Shinto priest. The religious aspect has reduced in importance, but the function of the festival in calling back family and relatives who have left the village for cities and in entertaining people with music and dance is the same as ever.
Following to the opening Shinto ritual, people start dancing around a huge pot with bells and katana in their hand. They dance for a whole day and night to the simple music of the Japanese drum and flute. Initially the audience only watches dancers modestly from afar and then gradually some naturally began to step to the music. When some of the dancers pour hot water out of the pot in the middle over the audience, that breaks the ice and audience and dancers get jumbled together to amuse themselves. It comes to the climax when Aka-oni with a huge ax in its hand scares and chases children around. Children's screams and laughter echoes in the village in the mountain valley in the deepening gloom of the evening.
These days even though in such an isolated village you can access the Internet, play video games and watch CNN on TV in English, more and more young people tend to leave the village so that they are getting short of dancers. It is difficult now to leave such traditional culture to future generations and it is a precious experience not only for foreigners but also for Japanese to have an opportunity to touch traditional events.
|
Ní thuigim thú 
