Sagimai, the Dance of the Herons, is an elegant, medieval dance that originates in the Gion Matsuri, the Kyoto festival that is the most famous of all festivals in Japan.
The best place to see it is in the former castle town of Tsuwano in the mountains of western Shimane close to the border with Yamaguchi, where the dance has been kept alive for more than four centuries after it disappeared from Kyoto.
Two male dancers dressed as herons, one male, one female, perform a kind of mating dance, and while the two "birds" are the stars of the show, there are plenty of other characters in the performance.
Two dancers called bofuri, wearing bright red wigs and carrying long rods slowly circle the two herons, twirling the rods to keep the space free from evil spirits. One bofuri moves clockwise, the other anti-clockwise.
The Toya, festival head, with some guards. Historically a hereditary position of the influential Hori family, the position of Toya is nowadays rotated among parishioners of the Yasaka Shrine.
The remaining halberds, or kasaboko. Originally 13, one for each month plus the largest for the whole year. Because of depopulation, there are no longer enough people to carry the halberds so they are left on display at the community center where the dance begins.
The dance takes place at several locations along Tonomachi, a street of preserved historical buildings from the Edo Period. All the dancers and musicians have their own "guards" as they walk the short distance. The crowd, never that big, usually accompanies the procession to the next venue.
While the herons are dancing, and the bofuri are circling, another pair of dancers called kakko mai are dancing. Kakko is the name of the small drum attached to their waists which they don't actually play. Their movement do not mimic, but is synchronized with, that of the herons.
Behind the kakko mai, the musicians playing flute, cymbal, and drums sit or squat, and behind them stand the singers.
The dance takes place on July 20th and 27th, the start and end days of the Gion Matsuri in Tsuwano. It was probably introduced from nearby Yamaguchi in 1542. The Ouchi Clan who ruled much of western Japan had introduced a lot of culture and tradition from Kyoto including the sagimai.
It stopped being performed in Kyoto during the time of the Onin War in the 15th century when Kyoto was a smoldering ruin and the dance died out there. Later it also died out in Yamaguchi, leaving Tsuwano as the only site in Japan where the dance continued until modern times.
In the late 20th century the people of Tsuwano took the sagimai back to Kyoto and taught them the details. Nowadays it can be seen at Yasaka Shrine in Gion, though it would be best to be in possession of a powerful telephoto lense if you want to see much of anything.......
In 1958 Tsuwano created the Kosagi Odori, literally the Heron Chick Dance, as way to get the towns children involved , and it has now become a feature of the festival every year.
Young boys have recently taken part in the Chick Dance, a result of the dwindling population. In a similar vein, women have started to take part in the main Sagi Mai, though so far only as guards of the procession.
One final note,.... Herons are quite a few species of different birds, with the one represented in the sagimai most likely a Little Egret. There are several egret species in Japan, all white. What I would call a heron is the Grey Heron, called Ao Sagi, blue heron in Japanese, and the egret is shira sagi, white heron.
After leaving Usa Hachimangu and heading towards the Kunisaki Peninsula I chose to avoid the main road and instead headed through the back roads through the village of Hachizu where I stopped in at Hachizu Shrine.
There is a very unusual mix of kami enshrined here, the primary being Amenominakanushi, by some accounts the first kami to come into being, yet very little is known or written about him. There were apparently no ancient shrines deicated to him, but in the Meiji era when the buddhas and kami were seperated, many shrines chose to rename Myoken, the deity of the North Star, Amenominakanushi....
The next is Yaekotoshironushi, another version of the name Kotoshironushi, the son of Okuninushi and now more commonly equated with Ebisu. Then there is the pair of kami Mikahayahi and Hihahayahi who who created out of blood dripping from the sword that Izanagi used to kill the god of fire. Finally there is Uganomitama, the female aspect of Inari.
I am guessing that the pile of rice straw is to make new shimenawa. Secondary shrines within the grounds include Kibune, Tenjin, Konpira, Gion, Inari, Dosojin, and Wakamiya.
Well, this place is about as familiar as any in Japan, recognizable to anyone who has been to Kyoto, it is of course the entrance to Yasaka Shrine in Gion, home of the Gion Matsuri.
Until 1868 it was known as Gion Sha, but the name was changed when the government "seperated" the Buddhas and Kami. The original kami was Gozu Tenno, the Ox-Head Heavenly King, a god of epidmics and relief from epidemics. Originally an Indian god, he became associated with Susano.
The main kami is now Susano, but the shrine is very much a family affair with many members of his family also enshrined here. There is Kushinada, his wife, or rather one of his wives, then there is Yashimajinumi, a son born to Susano and Kushinada. he is Okuninushi's great, great, great grandfather. Next comes Isotake and his sisters Oyatsuhime and Tsumatsuhime. All three have connections with tree planting and wood production, and all three came over to Japan with Susano from Korea, so must have been born to another "wife".
Next a couple of Susano's offspring connected to food, especially grains, Otoshi and Ukanomitama. Ukanomitama is well known as Inari, and Otoshi was born to Susano and Oyamatsumi's daughter. There are many Otoshi shrines around, and interestingly he had many, many children who were worshipped by "immigrant" clans.
Finally there is Suserihime ( or Suseribime), a daughter of Susano who became one of Okuninushi's wives. Not bad considering there was 4 or 5 generations between them.
The meaning of all these kami lineages, in my opinion, is to show intermarriage and alliances between powerful clans. What becomes clear is that the lineages tracing back to Susano dominated early Japan, and the Yamato story of Amaterasu and Susano being siblings is the attempt by the later arrivals, the Yamato, to co-opt the ruling clans into their own history and therefore their divine claim to rule.
Known locally as Toki Shrine, the Wakamiya Hachimangu is located near Gojo a little south of Gion in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto.
This is the heart of the old pottery district, and in August the Kyoto Gojozaka Ceramic Festival is held at the shrine with stalls along the street in front.
The primary kami is Hachiman, now equated with the legendary Emperor Ojin, and also includes his mother Jingu and father Chuai. There are other secondary shrines including this one to Inari.
There is also a Touso Shrine, enshrining the famous Shikoku potter Toushiro. I think this is a twentieth Century addition.
This is the Rengeishi (Lotus stone) donated to the shrine by Ashikaga Takauji, the founder of the Ashikaga Bakufu in the 14th century.
The shrine was originally built some miles to the west in 1053 and was moved to its current location in 1605
The Gion district of Kyoto is one of the most familiar places to visitors to Japan, and whiles I try to concentrate on posts that are more unfamiliar, because Yoko is from Gion we visit there fairly often to visit family, so sometimes I will post on Familiar Japan.
This little girl was being photographed by her parents last August. Probably not dressed up for Shichigosan as that is not until November.
The chances are she is a student of Nihon Buyo, traditional dance, and has just finished taking part in the annual recital.
Not much I can add to the title, except to give locations. This first one is from a farmhouse in the village of Yairoishi, up in the mountains of Iwami.
This is of the Tea Room at Kennin-Ji, the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto.
This is at Komyozen-Ji, a delightful small temple in Dazaifu, Fukuoka. It has my favorite temple garden.
These 2 young ladies in Gion were being photographed by a whole gaggle of foreign tourists who most probably believed they were seeing maiko or geisha.
In fact the 2 women were customers of one of the many "Maiko make-over" shops that are in Gion.
With prices ranging from 6,000 up to more than 40,000 yen. you can get made up and wear the costume and then wander around Gion.
So, how can you tell they are fake?
A simple rule of thumb is that if it is the daytime, then almost certainly they are cosplayers. Another thing to look for is how they walk. Very few non-maiko will be able to walk in the correct maiko way. The bags they carry and how they lift the kimono are also give-aways.
It's Obon season, and we were up visiting Yoko's family in Gion.
Last night we went up the hill behind Gion to visit the cemetery at the temple called Otani-san where Yoko has some family buried. The cemetery is all lit up with lanterns.
About half the crowds there were visitng and washing family tombstones, and the other half were tourists taking photos and enjoying the view over the city. There seemed to be more tourists than usual in Kyoto, probably there for the Daimonji fires that will be lit tomorrow night.
The long path leading up to the temple from behind yasaka Shrine is lined with lanterns.
Down around the main temple buildings all the lanterns were painted by local children.
Apparently Shinran, the founder of the True Pure Land sect has his tomb here.
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