Iwaishima Kanmai matsuri 2012

Went to one of my favorite matsuris 2 weekends ago, the Kanmai matsuri on the tiny island of Iwaishima in the Inland Sea off the yamaguchi coast. This young lady was one of the group of sanshin players waiting on the quayside to greet the flotilla of boats....

The two long rowboats returned to harbor after going around to the other side of the island to greet and escort the boats oming from Kyushu carrying the priests. The matsuri dates back to the ninth century and commemorates the time the islanders gave shelter to a boat from Kyushu carrying their kami back from the Kyoto area.

I guess there was less than a thousand visitors to the matsuri..... which meant the islands population had tripled for the day. The lone policeman didnt seem to have anything to do. The atmosphere was relaxed, friendly, and good-natured.

The islanders had made it a little more commercial this year. There were T shirts, books, and postcards on sale to raise funds to pay the fine slapped on the islanders for their acts of civil disobedience in interfereing with the workers attempting to survey for the planned nuclear power station a few kilometers away on Kaminoseki.

The matsuri takes place every four years and for the next three days after the marine procession kagura will be performed in a temporary shrine. For such an old, interesting, and fun matsuri why so few visitors? because there is no Shinkansen station nearby.....

On the henro trail

Sorry for the scarcity of posts recently. have been down in Shikoku on the henro trail.

Normal service will resume shortly

Kaminoseki Bridge

This draincover is from the town of Kaminoseki, a group of small villages scattered over a small peninsular on the south coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture. The bridge depicted connects the peninsular with Nagashima one of the small islands included in the town. The fish do not appear to be happy.

The bridge was constructed in 1969 and is 180 meters long and sits 23 meters above the sea.

Nagashima is where a new nuclear power station is under contruction, against the wishes of most of the local inhabitants. Iwaishima, the small island opposite the construction site is very opposed to the construction and for years the old fishermen of the island been practising non-violent civil disobedience using tactics similar to those used by Sea Shepherd in the campaign against Japanese "research" whaling in the Antarctic.

Whereas the Sea Shepherd campaign gets plenty of media coverage in Japan, instances of civil disobedience within Japan is virtually ignored by Japanese media. More information can be found here

Iwaishima

There was a documentary on TV last night about Iwaishima, and it's prompted me to post this.

This is Mr. H, a resident of Iwaishima, a small island off the coast of Yamaguchi. Mr H is 90 years old. I met him last year at the Kannmai Matsuri.

In 1969, a mere 40 years ago, a little over 2,600 people lived on Iwaishima, now only 520 are left. Of those 520 a full 75% are aged over 65 years old.

I had walked around on the island's only road to the far side to watch a ceremony. Yoko, with her bad hip, stayed in the village. It was a hot day, and Mrs H came out of her house and invited Yoko in to the house for some shade and a cold tea. While chatting Yoko told them where I had gone and they suggested that she borrow their bicycle and cycle round to meet me, and so it was as I was walking back I bumped into Yoko riding a bike that while not as old as the Mr H, was probably as old as Yoko.

So, I sat in their cool house and sipped tea while Mr & Mrs H chatted about their activism in the fight against the nuclear power station planned for nearby. The majority of the remaining islanders are against it and big anti-nuclear signs are painted an a few walls around the village. The local shrine has been boycotted by the people because the priest is not against the power station.

When we left their house they gave us a plastic shopping bag. In it was a pack of the island's green tea and a couple of packs of dried seaweed, a local speciality.

The kindness of strangers!

Iwaishima kagura

This short video is of a kagura performance on the small island of Iwaishima, or as some people say, Iwaijima, off the southern coast of Yamaguchi.

If you compare it to some of the other videos of Iwami Kagura, you will see some differences.

The music is different, and the costumes are much simpler.

This is the first dance of 33 that were performed over a 3 day period as part of Kannmai Matsuri held every 5 years.

The opening dance features Kojin, the local kami of the island, though the mask look a lot like a Tengu, or even Sarutahiko.

Kojin is equivalent to the kami Omoto in my area, and is known as an Aragami, "rough kami", though I prefer turbulent kami. In this dance the priest pacifies Kojin.

The kagura dances are performed in a temporary structure with grass roof and walls erected near the harbor

The priests come from northern Kyushu, which has its own kagura traditions, so I don't know whether these performances are from that tradition or the southern Yamaguchi kagura tradition.

The masks are wooden, and so are simpler than Iwami Kagura masks.

Kannmai Matsuri

This short video was shot 2 weeks ago on the small island of Iwaishima. It shows the beginning of the Kannmai matsuri, as 2 rowboats, accompanied by a flotilla of gaily decorated fishing boats, head out to see to meet 3 boats coming from Kyushu carrying priests.

The priests are from the village of Imi in Kyushu, and come here every 5 years fro the matsuri.

The priests boats land on a beach in a bay on the other side of the island and perform a ceremony. In 886 a delegation of villagers were travelling back to Imi from Kyoto and were hit by a bad storm. They took shelter on Iwaishima and in gratitude for the help they received from the people on Iwaishima they performed ceremonies for the local kami, Kojin. This was the start of the Kannmai Matsuri which now occurs every 5 years.

After the ceremony the boats form a convoy and head back to the harbor on the other side of the island. I counted more than 30 boats in total.

At the harbor the villagers wait to greet the priests. The older women play shamisen, the young boys play drums, and there are 4 miko. All the men of the village are on the boats.

There now follows 3 days of kagura performances.

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