Happy New Year 2015!

December 29, 2014

It’s late December and as usual I wish we were in Japan for the New Year’s festivities.  We’ve celebrated with our home stay students and their families twice and it was great fun. 

All temples and shrines are selling the traditional decorations – endless combinations of pine branches (for longevity), bamboo stalks (for strength and flexibility) and plum blossoms (the first flower to bloom in late winter).  They can be as tiny as two inches and as tall as seven feet.  There are also numerous displays of mochi (rice cakes) and oranges, both real and artificial.  Sake sales are high.  Every housewife is busy cooking osechiryori, the traditional New Year’s feast or has ordered it from a trendy department store. No one cooks on New Year’s Day – it’s a time of rest and relaxation with your family.

One of my favorite traditions at this time of year is the practice of welcoming the Seven Lucky Gods and their treasure boat.  The photo is of an ema, a votive plaque of the Seven Lucky Gods from Chorakuji Temple, established in 803 AD in Kyoto.  From left to right the gods are: Fukurokuju (with large head, God of Longevity and Virility), Daikokuten (with magic mallet, god of Wealth and the kitchen), Jurojin (with white beard, God of Wisdom), Ebisu (with red fish, God of Honest Labor and Commerce), Bishimonten (in helmet, Scourge of Evil Doers), Benten (with lute, Goddess of Beauty and the Arts), and Hotei (with treasure sack, God of Happiness).

In one popular Japanese tradition, they travel together on their treasure ship (Takarabune 宝船) and visit human ports on New Year’s Eve to dispense happiness to believers.  Children are told to place a picture of this ship under their pillows on the evening of January first. Local custom says if they have a good dream that night, they will be lucky for the whole year.

And attention Harry Potter fans!  One of the treasures of the Seven Lucky Gods is an invisibility cloak!  It allows a person to do good deeds without being seen.  That tradition goes back over 300 years!  The other treasures are: a robe of feathers that gives the gift of flight, a magic mallet that when shaken brings forth wealth, a never empty purse and scrolls of wisdom.  There are some political leaders around the world I’d like to give the scrolls of wisdom.

Happy New Year of the Sheep 2015!

For more about the Seven Lucky Gods: http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/seven.shtml

For information about Japanese New Year’s foods: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi

Sanja Matsuri – A Joyful Festival

We’d never been to a festival so huge – over one and a half million people attend over the three days.  Of course we were nervous.  Together with Miho, our Japanese “daughter-in-law” and Kanato, our four-year old “grandson” in a stroller, we were swept out of the subway station by a happy crowd into Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood.  The streets were closed to traffic and instead were packed wall-to-wall with people, from locals of all ages to tourists from around the globe.  In just a few minutes we were caught up in the enthusiastic celebration and all fears disappeared.

We made our way through the crowd and before too long, we heard taiko drumming and enjoyed a very skillful children’s group perform.  Thanks to an adult member of the group who knew English, I had a chance to talk with their 80 year-old teacher.  Suddenly we heard flutes, whistles and chanting.   There bouncing above the crowd was a sparkling gold sculpture of a phoenix, its wings over 4 feet wide.  As we got closer we could see the mikoshi it adorned, an elaborate portable shrine carried on the shoulders of over 40 singing and chanting men.

We were there on Sunday, the last day of the festival, and the highlight is the parade of elaborate mikoshi.  They “swim” through the crowds, about every twenty minutes, on their way to Senso-ji Temple.  There are three large mikoshi plus one hundred others from the neighborhood associations.  Parading the mikoshi honors the local kami (gods) and bestows good luck upon their respective neighborhoods.  Most of the one-ton mikoshi are carried by men, but there are now women’s associations with their own mikoshi.  Miniature versions are carried by children – and mobbed by photographers. 

Miho took us back to one of the side streets.  There a mikoshi stood on sawhorses while the men rested, ate and enjoyed sake with their families.  They proudly showed off their treasure (estimated to cost $390,760 in 2008) and suggested that we take a photo with them.  It’s one of our favorites from the festival.  

Back out on the main street, I waded into the crowd to take photos and capture the energy of the people carrying the mikoshi.  As long as I kept pace with the celebrants, I was fine.  But it was tough to keep other photographers out of my pictures.   Later we enjoyed some of our favorite festival foods before returning to our hotel exhilarated but exhausted.  We've been back three times with our students and hope to enjoy the celebration again.

Sanja Matsuri (literally “Three Shrine Festival”) is one of the three great Shinto religious festivals in Tokyo.  It honors three men who founded Senso-ji Temple and is held on the third weekend of every May.  The festival dates back to the 7^th century but reached its present high status in 1649 when Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu commissioned the construction of Asakusa Shinto shrine dedicated to the three founders.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanja_Matsuri

Daruma, Symbol of Perseverance

Please let me introduce you to Daruma, a favorite good luck charm in Japan.  This squat little red doll represents Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism.  Most information about him and his teachings are legends.  He was an Indian sage who lived in the fifth or sixth century AD and introduced Chan or Zen Buddhism to China.  It was said that he was a pious monk who introduced a form of meditation that involved “gazing at cave walls.”  Some legends say that he meditated for nine long years in China and his arms and legs atrophied and fell off.   That is why in Japan Daruma dolls are simple round figures like this.

Daruma dolls are sold everywhere in Japan in sizes from less than an inch to over three feet tall.  Mine is three inches tall.  Darumas are sold without the eyes painted in.  When starting new ventures in life, such as getting married, starting a new job, or at New Year’s, people buy a doll, make a wish and paint in the left eye.  The doll is then placed on the home altar or on a shelf where you will see it and remember your wish.  When your wish comes true, you paint in the right eye while giving thanks.  That is called “Me ga deru” or “both eyes pop open,” a Japanese phrase meaning victory, success or attainment of a goal or wish.

I painted in the left eye of my Daruma when I began teaching my first college course in 2006.  Even after teaching for 33 years I was nervous about moving up from the secondary level.  I happily painted in the right eye when my students’ evaluations gave me high ratings.  Two of those students later went to Japan with us and they are still our friends.

Daruma dolls were first developed in Japan in the sixteenth century and used through the ninetenth century as a charm to ward off smallpox.  In those days, the smallpox god was said to like the color red, so the common folk tried to please the deity in hopes of averting illness or being granted a speedy recovery.  Smallpox disappeared after vaccination was introduced to Japan in the late nineteenth century.  But the bright red Daruma dolls remain popular as one of Japan’s most popular talismans of good luck.

The Daruma eye-painting custom is probably based on a much earlier Buddhist ritual called Kaigan Kuyo (eye-opening ceremony) in which a newly made Buddhist statue was consecrated by an officiating priest who would paint in the pupils of the statue’s eyes.  It was believed that at that time the essence or soul of the deity would enter the statue.  When the Great Buddha of Todaiji was dedicated in 752 AD 10,000 people celebrated the eye-opening ceremony conducted by Bodhisena, a priest from India.

For more information: http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/daruma.shtml

and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todaiji.

Shichi Go San Festival

February 27, 2014 

Towards the end of my first visit to Japan in 1984, I experienced my first Shichi Go San Matsuri.   The Seven Five Three Festival is a joyous celebration of children at Shinto Shrines.  Parents proudly bring their children, dressed in bright colorful kimono and hakama, to their local shrine to be blessed and to give thanks for their health.

In November 2013 we were honored to celebrate Shichi Go San with our five year old “grandson” Kotaro Ohta and his parents in Gifu, Japan.  His mother, Aiko, is one of our “daughters,” a former home stay student.  We started the day at a photography studio where Kotaro and Aiko were dressed in their traditional Japanese clothes.  What a transformation from a five year old crazy about Spiderman to a proud samurai in hakama.  He was delighted.  Amazingly it was Aiko’s first time to wear a kimono and she chose one from her mother’s collection.  After formal photos at the studio we traveled to a local Shinto Shrine.  It’s a bit of a challenge to get a little samurai into a car seat.

At the shrine we joined happy crowds of parents, grandparents and gaily dressed children.  Red and pink for girls and black and gold for boys were predominate.  On the hike up the shrine stairs, Kota’s zori (footwear) would fall off or his fan would drop out of his obi.  But Kaku, his dad, patiently righted the costume each time.  At the top of the stairs we entered the lovely wooden hall and sat on stools during the blessing ceremony.  The priest and shrine attendant intoned prayers that were solemn and short.

On the way out of the shrine, Aiko stopped at a special booth to pick up Kotaro’s present.  It is chitose ame, literally "thousand year candy," given to children at Shichi-Go-San.  Chitose ame is long, thin, red and white candy, which symbolizes healthy growth and longevity.  It is given in a bag decorated with a crane and a turtle, which represent long life in Japan.   Later we celebrated with a lunch at a udon restaurant..

For those who are curious, Shichi-Go-San is said to have originated in the Heian Period (794-1188 AD) amongst court nobles who would celebrate the passage of their children into middle childhood. The ages 3, 5 and 7 are consistent with East Asian numerology, which claims that odd numbers are lucky.

Over time, this tradition passed to the samurai class who added a number of rituals. Boys of age five could wear hakama (split trousers) for the first time, while girls of age seven replaced the simple cords they used to tie their kimono with the traditional obi.  By the Meiji Period (1868-1912), the practice was adopted amongst commoners as well and included the modern ritual of visiting a shrine to drive out evil spirits, wish for a long healthy life and to celebrate the growth and well-being of young children.

Ema – Prayers to the Gods

Thanks to Takako Nakano of Hiroshima, I’ve been collecting ema since 1984. At a Shinto shrine, you can buy an ema, a small plaque with an auspicious design painted on it. You write your wish or prayer on your plaque and hang it on a special rack in front of the shrine. Your ema remains there, constantly reminding the gods of your prayer, until New Year’s Eve. That night they are burned and your prayer now rises as smoke in a final offering to the gods.

These are koema (small ema), offered at Izumo Shrine in 2013. Izumo is one of three imperial shrines; the others are Atsuta and Ise. It was believed that in October of every year all the gods of Japan gathered at Izumo to plan the relationships for the next year – who would be friends, who would marry and who would have good business relationships. The god of Izumo is the god of marriage. The left hand ema show a married couple and the right hand ema has a snake, as 2013 was the year of the snake. It’s interesting to read the messages on ema, now in many languages and often with lovely drawings.

Some shrines keep the same design on their ema every year. Other shrines change their designs annually, generally to reflect the zodiac animal for that year. There were also oema (large ema) painted by famous artists, such as Kano Motonobu and Hokusai. They are carefully signed and dated and sometimes installed in their own building.

My ema collection includes a large number of ema acquired by Sangoro Miyamoto, the grandfather of our first home stay student. After he retired as a teacher and principal, he traveled to many shrines where he bought ema. Each time we visited, I always discussed with him the ema I had collected on that trip. When he died in 1993, the family decided to give me his collection, since grandfather and I shared this common interest.

The practice of offering pictures to the deities of revered natural features and places goes back perhaps 1,200 years. The earliest preserved ema are from the 14th century. The word ema is composed of two kanji or Japanese characters, e (picture of) and ma (horse). This reflects the ancient custom of offering a horse to a shrine. Ema are the modest offerings of common people to the gods. Over the years I’ve happily donated to the upkeep of many shrines.

Helen Rindsberg
http://helenrindsberg.com/
http://helenrindsberg.blogspot.com/