More Japan Festivals and Fun!

Hikawa Jinja Shrine Mikoshi and Dashi Parade!

This parade was at a Buddhist Temple right behind our house, so we stopped by to join in their big annual festival.  They had a parade of floats and some very interesting costumes.  Even though we didn't understand much of what was going on it was still quite entertaining. 

After the main procession, there was some kind of ritualized struggle where the crowd attempted who was carrying a god encased in a small shrine attempted to enter the big shrine area but was repelled several times.  Eventually, they pushed they way in.  I think it had something to do with the pull of good and evil.  It was super crazy and really crowded. 

We went with our neighbors and good friends to the festival.  Adam and Julianne live live only a short hop and a skip away from us which is so great especially since they have the cutest girls Catherine and Carolyn who are almost the same ages as Sienna and Elliana.  They are also our sponsors and have helped us settle in so quickly! 

Of course a Japanese festival isn't complete without fish on a stick 

accompanied with awesome drumming!

Oeshiki Festival- Ikegami Honmonji Temple

Lantern Parade

"Oeshiki is a Buddhist festival commemorating the anniversary of Saint Nichiren's death. Although it is celebrated at many places in Japan, the festival held at Ikegami Honmonji Temple is the most prestigious as Saint Nichiren passed away at this temple. The event has been handed down through generations for 730 years along with its long-standing history and tradition. The highlight is the mando (10,000 light) rite in which about 3,000 people carry sacred lanterns decorated with cherry blossoms along the approximately two-kilometer route from Ikegami Station to the temple. Some 300,000 people attend the festival each year, which is a truly intense night event."

It ended up being quite a lot of effort to get to this festival but to me, it was worth it.  (Todd might tell you another story).  We did at least get to spend extra time with Rochelle and Jeremy while we were there which was a bonus!   Rochelle is one of my best friends from college and she and her husband got a short job from Oct- December here in Tokyo.  It is such a cool opportunity to have one of my dearest friends living abroad near me, even if it is only for a short while.