Sakurae Koinobori

 

Early May, 2013, and I start day 6 of my walk along the Kannon pilgrimage in the former province of Iwami, the Iwami Mandala Kannon. The last temple I visited was Senganji upriver in Kawamoto and the next two temples lie between it and my home so I decided to start out from my house and walk this section in reverse as it were.

The azaleas were starting to bloom and a few houses had koinobori carp streamers flying.

The colourful bridge that crosses the river between Tanijyugo, my village, and Kawado on the opposite bank, had recently had a new coat of paint.

Just upstream from the Kawado Bridge, two lines of koinobori are stretched across the river.

On the far bank is where the local suijin festival will take place on May 5th. A large Onusa, a purification wand, hangs over the river at this point to pacify the turbulent water deity.

The previous post in this series was Senganji Temple. Also please check out this post about the water deity Suijin.

Children's Day Koinobori

Today is Children's Day, and for the past week or so the koinobori, carp streamers, have been flying around Japan.

Our local Chamber of Commerce puts up 2 strings of them across the Gonokawa river.

This is the spot where the Suijin Matsuri will take place on May 5th.

Though it is called Childrens Day, really its Boys Day as the girls celebrate Hina Matsuri, the Doll Festival.

The carp symbolize endurance and strength as they swim upstream.