Japan Tradition: Kanda Matsuri
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Il Festival degli anni dispari
photo credits: dydo-matsuri.com
Solo negli anni che terminano con numeri dispari e sempre a metà maggio, nel quartiere di Kanda a Tokyo, ha luogo il Kanda Matsuri (神田祭). Esso è tra i matsuri più importanti di Tokyo assieme al Sanno Matsuri e al Fukagawa Matsuri. Fa inoltre parte dei tre più grandi festival del Giappone assieme al Tenjin Matsuri di Osaka e al Gion Matsuri di Kyoto.
Le radici del Kanda Matsuri affondano nel Periodo Edo (1603-1867), quando a governare la città di Edo (l’odierna Tokyo) era lo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Proprio per questo motivo esso è conosciuto anche come Tenka Matsuri (Tenka significava shogun).
photo credits: xin beitou, Atsushi Ebara
Il festival fu celebrato come una dimostrazione di prosperità sotto il nuovo regime. Allo stesso tempo il Sanno Matsuri si teneva per celebrare il nuovo centro politico e i suoi governanti. A causa dei lunghi e stravaganti preparativi, e vista la competizione che si andava instaurando tra le due celebrazioni, si decise di alternarli. Secondo questa nuova regola, a metà maggio negli anni dispari si sarebbe festeggiato il Kanda Matsuri, mentre a metà giugno negli anni pari sarebbe stata la volta del Sanno Matsuri.
Oggi il Kanda Matsuri è il festival del santuario shintoista Kanda Myojin, a Chiyoda, incastonato tra moderni palazzi in una delle zone più lussuose di Tokyo. Il tempio appartiene a tre divinità: Daikokuten, il dio del buon raccolto e del matrimonio, Ebisu, il dio dei pescatori e degli uomini d’affari e Taira no Masakado, un samurai del X secolo venerato e in seguito divinizzato.
photo credits: rove.me, bill ben
La celebrazione della ricchezza e della fortuna
Come ogni festival che si rispetti, i rituali shintoisti sono i primi protagonisti dei preparativi. La sera prima della parata principale si invitano gli spiriti del tempio ad entrare nei tre mikoshi (piccoli tempi portatili) finemente decorati. Il giorno successivo, alle 8:00, i piccoli templi sfilano per le strade di Kanda , Nihonbashi, Otemachi e Akihabara, per poi tornare al tempio, attorno alle 19:00. Essi sono seguiti non solo da una folla immensa di persone, ma anche da musicisti, sacerdoti a cavallo e molti altri vestiti con colorati costumi tradizionali.
photo credits: nlgwest , Kemy Shibata
Al contempo, si tiene anche una piccola processione secondaria della durata di tre ore. A questa prendono parte uomini a cavallo vestiti da samurai, personaggi delle storie popolari, musicisti e ballerini che partono dalla Scuola Elementare di Arima nel primo pomeriggio e procedendo verso nord raggiungono il Kanda Myojin.
Il giorno seguente è dedicato alla parata dei mikoshi di vari quartieri nei distretti di Kanda e Nihonbashi. Ognuno di essi trasporta un ujigami, divinità guardiane che in questa occasione vengono ospitate nei mikoshi per benedire i residenti della zona durante il loro passaggio.
photo credits: Eugene Kaspersky
Tante piccole curiosità
Coloro che nascevano e crescevano a Edo erano chiamati “Edokko”. Gli edokko possedevano una spiccata personalità e pare che fossero molto aperti e gioviali. Caratteristiche queste che si riflettevano, e si riflettono ancora oggi, proprio nel Kanda Matsuri, una festa ricca di energia.
La sfilata con i suoi protagonisti richiama anche le celebrazioni per la vittoria di Tokugawa nella battaglia di Sekigahara che avrebbe aperto la strada allo shogunato che portò a un lungo periodo di pace e prosperità in Giappone. Originariamente, i cittadini indossavano particolari costumi onorando il tempio dando vita a sontuosi spettacoli di teatro Noh.
photo credits: tokyoexcess.blogspot.it, xin beitou
Durante il periodo Edo la parata passava accanto al castello di Edo con le sue magnifiche decorazioni, dando ai cittadini comuni una rara occasione di entrare nel perimetro del castello.
La maggior parte dei carri originali, che erano stati usati sin dai primi festival, sono andati distrutti nel Grande terremoto del Kanto del 1923 e dai bombardamenti della Seconda Guerra Mondiale.
photo credits: viajejet.com, fastjapan.com
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The festival held on odd-numbered years
photo credits: dydo-matsuri.com
In the middle of May on every odd-numbered year, the Kanda Matsuri (神田祭) takes place in Tokyo’s Kanda. Together with the Sanno Matsuri and the Fukagawa Matsuri, Kanda Matsuri is one of the three most important Shinto festivals being held in Tokyo. It is also one of the three largest festivals of Japan together with Osaka’s Tenjin Matsuri and Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri.
The origin of Kanda Matsuri dates back to the Edo Period (1603-1867), when the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu ruled over Edo, now modern day Tokyo. It is for this reason that Kanda Matsuri is also sometimes known as Tenka Matsuri (Tenka meaning shogun).
The celebration of this festival also doubled as a demonstration of prosperity under the new regime.
photo credits: xin beitou, Atsushi Ebara
At the same time, the Sanno Matsuri took place to celebrate the new political center and its rulers. Because of the long and extravagant preparations, competition between the two festivals grew, and eventually, it was decided to celebrate them in alternate years. Under this new rule, Kanda Matsuri was to be celebrated in the middle of May on odd numbered years , while the Sanno Matsuri would be celebrated in the middle of June on even numbered years.
Today, Kanda Matsuri is celebrated in honour of the gods residing in the Shinto shrine called Kanda Myojin that can be found nestled among modern buildings in one of the most exclusive neighbourhoods in Tokyo, Chiyoda ward. The shrine is dedicated to 3 deities: Daikokuten, the god of good harvest and matrimony, Ebisu, the god of fishermen and businessmen and Taira no Masakado, a revered samurai of the 10th century who was deified.
photo credits: rove.me, bill ben
Celebrating prosperity and good fortune
Like most other festivals, shinto rites are an essential part of the preparations. On the eve of the main procession, the kami (gods) of the shrine are invited to enter the three finely decorated mikoshi (portable shrines) through these rituals. At 8 a.m. on the day of the festival, these mikoshi are paraded through the streets of Kanda, continuing down to Nihonbashi, followed by Otemachi, and finally Akihabara, before returning to the temple at around 7 p.m. This procession is typically accompanied by an immense crowd of people, along with musicians, priests riding on horseback and many other participants wearing colorful, traditional clothes.
photo credits: nlgwest , Kemy Shibata
At the same time, there is a smaller three-hour long secondary procession being held. This is attended by men on horseback dressed as samurai, characters from folk stories, musicians, and dancers who depart from Arima Elementary School in the early afternoon and proceed north towards the Kanda Myojin shrine.
The next day following the festival is dedicated to the procession of mikoshi from various neighbourhoods in the Kanda and Nihonbashi district. Each of them contains an ujigami, guardian deities who, on this occasion, are housed in mikoshi to bless the residents of the area as they are paraded through the streets.
photo credits: Eugene Kaspersky
Many small curiosities
Those who were born and raised in Edo were called “Edokko”. Edokko had a peculiar personality and they were said to be very open and cheerful people. All these characteristics were, and still are, reflected in the Kanda Matsuri, a festival full of energy.
The procession with all its main elements also recalls the celebrations for Tokugawa’s victory in the battle of Sekigahara, which cleared the path to the shogunate that led to a long period of peace and prosperity in Japan. Originally, townspeople would dress up and give thanks to the shrine through lavish performances of Noh theater.
photo credits: tokyoexcess.blogspot.it, xin beitou
During the Edo period, the parade with its beautiful decorations would pass by Edo Castle, giving common people a rare chance to enter its grounds.
Most of the original floats, which had been used since the early days of the festival, were destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and in the bombing of WWII.
photo credits: viajejet.com, fastjapan.com
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The festival held on odd-numbered years
photo credits: dydo-matsuri.com
In the middle of May on every odd-numbered year, the Kanda Matsuri (神田祭) takes place in Tokyo’s Kanda. Together with the Sanno Matsuri and the Fukagawa Matsuri, Kanda Matsuri is one of the three most important Shinto festivals being held in Tokyo. It is also one of the three largest festivals of Japan together with Osaka’s Tenjin Matsuri and Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri.
The origin of Kanda Matsuri dates back to the Edo Period (1603-1867), when the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu ruled over Edo, now modern day Tokyo. It is for this reason that Kanda Matsuri is also sometimes known as Tenka Matsuri (Tenka meaning shogun).
The celebration of this festival also doubled as a demonstration of prosperity under the new regime.
photo credits: xin beitou, Atsushi Ebara
At the same time, the Sanno Matsuri took place to celebrate the new political center and its rulers. Because of the long and extravagant preparations, competition between the two festivals grew, and eventually, it was decided to celebrate them in alternate years. Under this new rule, Kanda Matsuri was to be celebrated in the middle of May on odd numbered years , while the Sanno Matsuri would be celebrated in the middle of June on even numbered years.
Today, Kanda Matsuri is celebrated in honour of the gods residing in the Shinto shrine called Kanda Myojin that can be found nestled among modern buildings in one of the most exclusive neighbourhoods in Tokyo, Chiyoda ward. The shrine is dedicated to 3 deities: Daikokuten, the god of good harvest and matrimony, Ebisu, the god of fishermen and businessmen and Taira no Masakado, a revered samurai of the 10th century who was deified.
photo credits: rove.me, bill ben
Celebrating prosperity and good fortune
Like most other festivals, shinto rites are an essential part of the preparations. On the eve of the main procession, the kami (gods) of the shrine are invited to enter the three finely decorated mikoshi (portable shrines) through these rituals. At 8 a.m. on the day of the festival, these mikoshi are paraded through the streets of Kanda, continuing down to Nihonbashi, followed by Otemachi, and finally Akihabara, before returning to the temple at around 7 p.m. This procession is typically accompanied by an immense crowd of people, along with musicians, priests riding on horseback and many other participants wearing colorful, traditional clothes.
photo credits: nlgwest , Kemy Shibata
At the same time, there is a smaller three-hour long secondary procession being held. This is attended by men on horseback dressed as samurai, characters from folk stories, musicians, and dancers who depart from Arima Elementary School in the early afternoon and proceed north towards the Kanda Myojin shrine.
The next day following the festival is dedicated to the procession of mikoshi from various neighbourhoods in the Kanda and Nihonbashi district. Each of them contains an ujigami, guardian deities who, on this occasion, are housed in mikoshi to bless the residents of the area as they are paraded through the streets.
photo credits: Eugene Kaspersky
Many small curiosities
Those who were born and raised in Edo were called “Edokko”. Edokko had a peculiar personality and they were said to be very open and cheerful people. All these characteristics were, and still are, reflected in the Kanda Matsuri, a festival full of energy.
The procession with all its main elements also recalls the celebrations for Tokugawa’s victory in the battle of Sekigahara, which cleared the path to the shogunate that led to a long period of peace and prosperity in Japan. Originally, townspeople would dress up and give thanks to the shrine through lavish performances of Noh theater.
photo credits: tokyoexcess.blogspot.it, xin beitou
During the Edo period, the parade with its beautiful decorations would pass by Edo Castle, giving common people a rare chance to enter its grounds.
Most of the original floats, which had been used since the early days of the festival, were destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and in the bombing of WWII.
photo credits: viajejet.com, fastjapan.com
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