Festivals & Holidays

June 3
Hanadaue in Chiyoda Rice Planting Festival. Chiyoda town is near Miyoshi. This event was featured in National Geographic some years back. Decorated oxen and people in costume parade through the town and plough a rice field. Then many women plant the rice to the sound of a drum. One line does a simple dance also. This festival which dates from the Edo period takes place in a big rice paddy. In the morning at the Chiyoda elementary school, about 10 or II AM, farmers and their sons dance the Kagura, a rhythmic dance to the music of drums and flutes. The dance is done in the hopes of a good rice crop.

June 8-10
Summer Festival Tohka-san takes place in downtown Hiroshima. It is the first day to wear yukata cotton kimono. People in yukata walk about in Chuodori street (the street that runs south between Fukuya and Tenmaya). There are many booths and stalls set up along the street. It is the festival of Shirakami Shrine, but nowadays few people know this.

July 7
Tanabata Matsuri festival is held yearly on the 7th day of the 7th month. Accoring to Bauer's Japanese Festivals the Tanabata or Hoshi (star) Festival is known by both names, but the more popular one is Tanabata (Weaving Loom) Matsuri. According to legend, and still quoting from the Bauer book, two radiant stars, Kengyu (Altair or the Cowherd star) and Shokujo (Vega or Princess Weaver star), are each set apart on either side of the Milky Way Ama-no-gawa river of heaven. At the same time each year, Kengyu and Shokujo leave their places in the heavens and have a joyous meeting. The Princess Weaver, daughter of a celestial king and a skillful weaver, was weaving cloth for her father's rob! one fine day. Looking up from her work, she saw a handsome cowherd tending his cows nearby. Attracted, she laid down her work and went to meet him. They fell in love and determined to marry. The king did not mind, but his daughter lost interest in weaving and the cowherd let the cattle wander away. This so displeased the king that he separated the couple and made them stay on opposite sides of the Milky Way, saying that they could meet each other one night each year. The Princess cried since there was no bridge across the Milky Way, and the cowherd despaired until a magpie Kasasagi and his fellows flocked together and formed a bridge with their outstretched wings over which the Princess crossed. It is believed that they continue to meet once each year by the same means.

In the past girls prayed to the Princess for skill in weaving and calligraphy, and the farmers prayed to the cowherd for a good harvest. Nowadays there is merrymaking, especially among young people and children. Banboo branches are set up in front of houses and decorated with ornaments, samples of calligraphy, and paper kimonos as a tribute to the Princess.

July 15
Kangensai Matsuri Music Festival at Miyajima, Itsukushima Shrine. A colorfully decorated fleet of boats makes a sea parade to the accompaniment of classical court music Gagaku. Three boats are joined together with decorated curtains over all, and lanterns are strung between them making a "stage on the water." Many other decorated boats from other areas near the island come to cruise about and to see and listen. It is a beautiful sight. Families and friends cook and eat together on the boats. At 9 PM as people watch from boats and the shrine's outside corridors, the boats return to shore; and at midnight the deity that had been carried on one of the shrine boats is returned to the shrine. Before ending the festival, the fleet of boats makes three last circles ar-und the shrine.

August 6
Peace Festival: Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Memorial Day Service Begun in 1947, it is the city's most important yearly event. The purpose is to console the souls of the dead, and to demonstrate and pray for peace. The opening ceremony is held at the Memorial Tomb at Peace Park. Notables lay wreaths at the tomb, and a peace declaration is.read. At 8:15 AM, the time of the bombing, the Peace Bell is rung and sirens and bells throughout the city join in as people sing songs of peace. During the evening, sutras are read and small lighted paper lanterns are floated down the Ota and Kyobashi rivers. The bridges at Peace Park or near the train station provide excellent views.

August 14-16
Friday through Sunday, O-BON the great Buddhist festival of Bon which is often termed by foreigners the Feast of Lanterns, but might better be rendered All souls' Day according to Chamberlain's book Japanese Things. At this time the spirits of dead ancestor's visit the altar sacred to them in each household where special offerings of food have been set out. At sunset on August 16th colorful, candlelit, paper lanterns are floated down the rivers to provide a safe return to the land of the dead.

In preparation for Bon, houses and graveyards are cleaned. A trip is made to bon-ichi Bon market or kusa-ichi grass market to buy decorations, food, and offerings during festival days. A visit to a Buddhist graveyard during Bon season will reveal elaborate decorations. Somber branches of the Japanese umbrella pine, koya-maki and sakaki Clayera japonica, both sacred in Japan, can be seen alongside mochi rice balls, fruit and incense.

Also at this time Bon Odori a community dance is performed at temples and on school grounds. It takes place in the evening to the accompaniment of a big drum and singing. Most people wear yukata, and many join in and dance in a circle, while others stand and watch.

A word of caution: Avoid the highways during O-Bon. Everyone in the country is driving to and fro visiting ancestral graves.