Mitama Matsuri at Yasakuni Shrine
I’m leaving this archipelago in two weeks, which means I’ve been here for three and a half months. In that time I’ve made some truly wonderful Japanese friends. One of the perks of this is that they know so much more about cultural events going on. Anna invited me to a matsuri (festival) at the controversial Yasakuni Shrine. It was a summer festival that ran for a few days, welcoming back the ancestors. They come to visit for a few days and then go back. Apparently at individual houses they make cucumber horses and eggplant bulls and then water them and feed them carrots. This is what Anna told me while I looked at her like she was crazy. I still don’t really know/understand why they do this. I do know it is representative of something. I know that’s great insight. They also start fires right before dusk so the ancestors know where to go and make the food that their relatives used to like to eat. It is just an assortment of traditions I had no idea about. It’s cool that theirs mean something more than giving Santa Claus cookies and milk.
So, the ancestors had left, but there was one more day of the festival at Yasakuni Shrine. I already mentioned that it’s controversial, this is because this shrine is dedicated to about 2.5 million war dead. This is all well and good, except that incorporated into these 2.5 million there are 14 class A convicted war criminals. Not only are there good and innocent people whose souls are housed there, but also 14 people who committed terrible crimes. This especially infuriates the Asian neighbors (China and Korea) who were victims of these past wars. It is especially a problem when the Japanese Prime Minister’s go to visit, as if endorsing the acts of those 14 people. I think the point is for people to go and honor the innocent war dead, but this gets in the way. At this festival, there are a ton of lanterns hanging everywhere. They read the names of the places/companies/people that give money to the shrine. My Japanese friends said that one of them was saying that the government was giving this shrine money, like the people’s taxes were being used to pay for this. That is one of the problems with the shrine, because people don’t have a choice of whether to support it financially or not, they are doing it regardless of their feelings towards the shrine itself. They didn’t believe this was right. It was so interesting hearing them talk about it and trying to explain as best they could in English why this was wrong to them, why it bothered them. This adds such an interesting spin to the actual festival, which in itself was absolutely wonderful.
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Like I said, there are lanterns everywhere and the day was beautiful. When the sun set, the sky was a gorgeous deep blue and the contrast of the yellow lanterns was in a way, dazzling. There were so many people there, some in Yukata (summer kimono) and so much festival food. It’s like a carnival only cleaner, busier, and you would never see a person dressed in a Pikachu outfit like I did. Oh, Japan. They also had music that included some intense big drums on this circular elevated stage. Around the circle of the stage there were people dancing. Apparently this is a well known or easy dance. Either way, I can’t do it, but everyone joins in. They circle around the stage and begin to dance together, old and young alike. It was beautiful in the way that in that moment there were so many strangers connected by one simple dance and beat of a drum. I’m going to miss these rich cultural experiences…
