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Published: November 7th 2007
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A week or two before the harvest festivals, paper lanterns are strung all through the neighborhoods to mark the coming of the festivals. Basically the biggest event of the year on Yuge, the autumn harvest festivals, are finally over. Each of the main neighborhoods holds a festival that continues for about three days, so all of the island’s festivals put together span over three weeks. There are three main festivals on Yuge; Kamiyuge (upper Yuge island), the smallest is my neighborhood- Hikino, and the biggest- Shimoyuge (lower Yuge island). I planned on boycotting my neighborhood’s festival this year because women are not allowed to participate in certain festivities (something typical of the Shinto religion), but at the last minute I was coerced into going. So, I ended up participating in all three festivals this year.
Another plan I had- not accepting drinks at the festivals this year- also went down the drain. Last year I felt too rude to refuse the many offerings of drinks at the festivals. But I remember feeling so exhausted from all the drinking and festivities all day that I could hardly move the following day. So, I went to the festivals this year ready to refuse all drinks offered to me, and I did just that. However, now I know that even if you refuse the drinks, you
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Nakizumo (or crying sumo) still end up with one in your hand that is refilled every second you’re not paying attention. All of my elementary school students play the part of beer and sake runners for the festivals, and they don’t take “no” for an answer.
The harvest festivals kick off at dusk on a Friday night with various sumo competitions at the main Shinto shrine at Matsubara beach. The whole neighborhood gathers around the shrine’s grounds to watch the wrestlers in the center dirt ring. First is the elementary students’ sumo competition.
Next is the women-only “shirizumo” (ass sumo) competition, in which I competed with a team made up of me and two other female teachers from my junior high school. All three of us are extremely small people, and we were all completely humiliated. At least I know I amused all my students (not to mention everyone else in town) because people were teasing me about it throughout the entire following week. This kind of sumo is where two people stand back-to-back on a small platform barely big enough for both people. When the referee (a man wearing nothing but a loin cloth) gives the signal, both people try to
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junior high school students getting their makeup done for the yakko dance bump the other person off using only their butts (hence the name), and the last one standing on the platform is the winner. Unfortunately I have no pictures of this because I was in the center ring being destroyed.
The final variety of sumo is called nakizumo (crying sumo). I don’t even see how this is considered a form of sumo. It was incredibly pitiful, but hilarious at the same time. All of the neighborhood’s babies are brought to the center ring. Then, a crazy man beating a drum and dressed as a demon with horns and a long white mane gets in their faces and tries to scare them until they cry! Everyone cheers when the demon succeeds in making the babies cry, and then a new set of babies are brought out for the next round. It was almost like watching some ancient torture ritual, except everyone was roaring with laughter. Only in Japan.
The festivities of Friday night end relatively early around 10pm so everyone can get some sleep in before preparation starts for the next day at 3am. I didn’t show up until about 8am, but at 3am all the junior high school students
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makeup for the yakko dance have to start getting dressed in their costumes and putting their makeup on for a special dance that is one of the main attractions of the festival. The dance, called “yakko,” has been done on this island since the Edo period (1600’s). It began as a kind of war procession when the warriors returned from battle carrying the heads of their enemies in boxes and the hair from the heads on long poles. Now, the dance is reenacted every year by the first and second-year junior high school students who march through the alleys of Yuge from sunup until sundown. It is a very honorable role that all the students look forward to doing, but by the end of the day their bodies are so soar and they are so exhausted from getting literally no sleep for about 24 hours, that many of them were in tears.
Following the yakko dancers in the procession are various kinds of carts or carriages. The most important is the “mikoshi” which is the whole purpose of the festival. The autumn harvest festivals take place in order to transport the gods of a particular shrine to a new temporary resting place. So, the
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makeup for the yakko dance mikoshi is made to be a portable shrine in which to transport the gods from one place to another. It looks like a small version of an actual-size shrine. It is made of a type of metal and decorated with bells.
Another carriage, the “danjiri” is where four junior high school-aged students sit in and perform the taiko drum and chanting for the procession. It is made out of wood and decorated with colorful tassels and bells. These two kinds of carriages, the mikoshi and the danjiri, are both carried on the shoulders of the neighborhood people using big wooden poles. This is also a huge attraction of these festivals and is a kind of display of the strength and endurance of the neighborhood people working together. After carrying these heavy carriages on your shoulders all day, people end up with a huge welt on their shoulders. I guess that’s what all the alcohol is for.
There is a third kind of carriage, the “hikidanjiri,” which also carries some people inside who play the taiko drum and various bells and gongs. A few people stand on the front and on top of the hikidanjiri singing and dancing while
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makeup for the yakko dance they are carted through the alleys. However, instead of people carrying the hikidanjiri on their shoulders, it is pulled through the alleys by thick long ropes that everyone from the neighborhood, old and young, can do. The hikidanjiri is also made of wood and is intricately carved with beautiful images. It is decorated with many colorful paper lanterns.
I began by just pulling the hikidanjiri thinking that I would avoid a giant welt on my shoulder. However, by dusk I was among the wild folks shouting in excitement and pain underneath the intense weight of the danjiri. After the danjiri and the mikoshi are carried though the neighborhood, blessing the homes all day, they are carried back to the shrine grounds for a final battle. This is where the festival becomes dangerous and violent (as if it wasn’t dangerous enough already). And of course, this is when I decided to join in on the violence.
The group carrying the mikoshi repeatedly attacks the different groups carrying the danjiri. Keep in mind this is with the mikoshi and danjiri still on everyone’s shoulders. It is like being charged at by a crowd of people and a huge wooden/metal mass.
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The yakko dance. You can see the boxes for the heads of the war enemies. Wait…it’s not like that…it is that. It’s so dangerous that with all the festivals happening across the country, at least a couple people are killed every year in the battles.
The children continue beating the taiko drum and chanting louder and louder inside the danjiri throughout the battle. Carrying the danjiri and participating in the battles is definitely one of the most unforgettable things I’ve done here in Japan. I am in no way a believer of the Shinto religion, but the spiritual energy I felt from participating in these festivals wasn’t like anything I’ve experienced before. Enduring the pain of the danjiri on my shoulders and chanting along to the beat of the taiko drum with the rest of the carriers under the light of the October moon and the paper lanterns has certainly left a lasting impression on me. Moreover, seeing my junior high school students- usually so detached from Japanese tradition with their cell phones and Japanese pop music- act as carriers of such an old community tradition was truly a unique and special event to witness and participate in.
Don't forget to watch the two videos I posted!
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