Aoi Matsuri
Today was Aoi Matsuri day. Aoi Matsuri, the Holyhock Festival, is one of the three big annual festivals in Kyoto, the other two being Gion Matsuri in the summer and Jidai Matsuri in the fall. Aoi Matsuri supposedly dates to the 6th century and involves a Heian-period-becostumed procession that starts at the Imperial Palace and stely winds its way first to the Shimogamo Shrine and thence to the Kamigamo Shrine. Period costume? Not to be missed!
I made my way to the route early and scouted out several likely spots, eventually settling on one promising place right at the fork of the Kamogawa and Takanogawa rivers. The procession had to cross a bridge over the Kamogawa and then make a sharp left towards the shrine, and I encamped myself right at that turn. It's a good thing too that I came with an hour and a half to spare, because as the appointed time approached, the crowd grew heavy, with a large group of policemen preventing people from overcrowding the sidewalks. My keenness paid off as I had a very good spot, on a slight rise giving a largely unobstructed view of the proceedings.
Keep moving. Nothing to see here.
The young cop posted at our corner very patiently explains to the 100th citizen that asks that 'yes, they will come from over there and will turn here and go up this street to the right, and could you move on ma'am so that you are not blocking the road'. I admired this guy's patience...
And at last they arrived! First came an escort of warriors, both mounted and on foot, then a string of court nobles, then court ladies, finally followed near the end by the anticipated highlight of the event, the saio-dai - an imperial princess, albeit in these modern times portrayed by a commoner. All of them accompanied by their servants, and everybody wearing hollyhock leaves.
According to the pamphlet I got, the procession "consists of 511 people, 36 horses, 4 cows, 2 carriages and runs 1 km front to back". It did not disappoint.
And here they come!
The warriors...
The nobles...
The ladies...
And the saio-dai...
Followed by a what can only be the Holy Taiko and the Most Sacred Atarigane...
And guess who gets to pick up after all the horses but another baby truck!
In addition to the pageantry (which was superb!) two things stood out in my gaijin mind: (1) The procession was completely quiet, without any kind of music. And (2) the cops went to great lenghts to give us a clear view! (Now try to find this at any Western event.)
Check out those cops making sure everyone can see! That's 'serve and protect!'
I made my way to the route early and scouted out several likely spots, eventually settling on one promising place right at the fork of the Kamogawa and Takanogawa rivers. The procession had to cross a bridge over the Kamogawa and then make a sharp left towards the shrine, and I encamped myself right at that turn. It's a good thing too that I came with an hour and a half to spare, because as the appointed time approached, the crowd grew heavy, with a large group of policemen preventing people from overcrowding the sidewalks. My keenness paid off as I had a very good spot, on a slight rise giving a largely unobstructed view of the proceedings.
And at last they arrived! First came an escort of warriors, both mounted and on foot, then a string of court nobles, then court ladies, finally followed near the end by the anticipated highlight of the event, the saio-dai - an imperial princess, albeit in these modern times portrayed by a commoner. All of them accompanied by their servants, and everybody wearing hollyhock leaves.
According to the pamphlet I got, the procession "consists of 511 people, 36 horses, 4 cows, 2 carriages and runs 1 km front to back". It did not disappoint.
And here they come!
The warriors...
The nobles...
The ladies...
And the saio-dai...
Followed by a what can only be the Holy Taiko and the Most Sacred Atarigane...
And guess who gets to pick up after all the horses but another baby truck!
In addition to the pageantry (which was superb!) two things stood out in my gaijin mind: (1) The procession was completely quiet, without any kind of music. And (2) the cops went to great lenghts to give us a clear view! (Now try to find this at any Western event.)
posted by Marcin at Monday, May 15, 2006
4 Comments:
Marcin, keep writing your fine stories!
I grew up w/Hollyhock in our garden. It has some mild pharmaceutical uses. What's the significance of Hollyhock to the Japanese that they dedicate a festival to it?
From what I understand, hollyhock has magical powers of all kinds. It cures illness. It improves fertility (for those who want to get pregnant). It prevents pregnancy (for those who don't). It slices, it dices, it sings, and it dances. As far as i can tell, it does everything.
Marcin, I was standing probably a few meters behind you. I'll look for the back of your head in my photos.
Post a Comment
<< Home