Tradition Impossible

The weekend just gone saw the Hote Matsuri. in Miyagi Prefecture. Dating back to perhaps as late as the 1680s, the festival is famous for one of the three largest mobile shrines in Japan. The setting: Shiogama Temple and the 202 steep, weather-beaten steps leading up to it. The participants are many, dressed in colorful period clothing, the stairs are lined with spectators: the stage is set for the torturous lifting of the shrine down the stairs. The shrine is a hugely heavy thing and, combined with 202 heavily worn steep stone stairs, the act of carrying it from summit to base is a dangerous, strenuous feat. Amongst those lining the staircase, I saw up-close the strained expressions of those carrying it, teetering left to right en masse as they made their descent. Meanwhile, some spectators attempted to throw 100 yen coins into the shrine as it passed by, often as not pelting those bearing the thing instead. The overall feeling was one of relief once they had made it to ground level, where they at once began running around with the shrine like men possessed. Instead of following the procession and seeing the subsequent parade, I met up with some friends and went to explore the temple at the top of the steps. Whilst there we were lucky enough to see a short musical costume play about an ogre trying to overthrow a king who, in the end, was able to feed its head to his trusty pet dragons - especially entertaining. I felt lucky to be there. David Thomson JET 2006-2007 Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture