Tenjin Matsuri - Osaka!

So it is the Summer time here in Japan which means HOT, HOT, HOT days and...festivals! There are festivals that happen all around Japan during this time of year. As you saw in earlier posts, I went to Gion Matsuri in Kyoto last week and this week I was lucky enough to get to see Tenjin Matsuri in Osaka.

Tenjin Matsuri is the festival of the Tenmangu Shrine and honors its principle deity Sugawara Michizane, the deity of scholarship (www.japan-guide.com). The festival is not only on one day but many days. The 24th was a Thursday, and Norie and I decided that day would be a good day to check it out because of the chance to actually see things and not have to fight such a large crowd. This festival is ranked as one of Japan's top three festivals so the expectation of a crowd was pretty high. The events actually start from early in the morning til late in the evening. Norie and I got to Tenmangu Shrine after both of us finished work, which was around 5:30 or so. We were lucky enough to get a spot near the shrine's entrance. The crowd was building, the sun was slowly coming down (but not weakening) and everyone was anxiously waiting the festivals presentation. I wasn't sure what to expect or know what was going to happen but it was fun to see many girls and guys wearing yukatas and people partaking in festivities with drinks in hands and cameras out. I also really enjoyed looking at the traditional clothes many of the shrine men and helpers of the festival were wearing.

So as we stood there, I got to see a parade of people coming toward the shrine's entrance. Men wearing tall red hats were standing and shouting and banging on a drum while rocking back and forth as if they were on a see-saw. Also there were many women and girls holding umbrellas or instruments dancing together as they paraded into the entrance. Along with them, were Japanese dragon dancers. Norie had told me that if a dragon "bites" your head, it is good luck. I didn't see any head biting happening though. After all the presenters made it into the shrine, the police slowly opened the flow for by standers to come in . Norie told me that whenever there are events involving fire works, there are many policemen. That was understandable taking the danger of fireworks and the danger of a massive crowd who's been/are drinking!

When we made it inside the shrine, it was packed of people but still enough room to move around a bit. Norie said that the following day was the biggest event day and that the shrine would be impossible to walk through. Luckily we picked the first day!

The festival within the shrine reminded me of festivals back home in Buddhist temples. There are tents and vendors set up, some with food, games for children, dessert, or some sort of set up promoting a shrine or company. There were also performers inside, dancers, drummers and other fancy things to see. There were these dancers who were doing some funky hand dance. Norie had told me that its a sort of dragon dance. That made sense cause the dancers' hands looked as if it was pretending to be a dragon's head. The dance was more funny to me but the drum sounds were cool.

After walking around and seeing all the shrine had to show, we were starved! The festival had food but as we all know, festival food is always over priced! So as we walked a bit outside the shrine's grounds we came across a yakitori shop that looked yummy.

So I've always known the word "yakitori" but never really knew what it meant. With the help of Norie, she taught me that "yaki" means grilled and "tori" means chicken. So as you know, yakitori is basically chicken parts on a skewer and grilled! The food was good and the beers were great as well as the company and conversation. Issei, Norie's boyfriend, had also joined us after work. The night was fun and interesting. It really made me wish it was Friday!! But I was grateful to be able to with the great Tenjin Matsuri. Hopefully my festival count will just increase from here!!



xx
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