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the Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival , was once a bustling post town on the Shimotsuke Kaido (Aizu-Nishi Kaido) road, which connected Nikko to Aizu-Wakamatsu, the center of the Aizu region.
Currently, Minamiaizu Town was formed in 2006 by the merger of four towns and villages: Tajima Town, Tateiwa Village, Inan Village, and Nangou Village, and the town hall is located in Tajima
The place name Tajima is said to have originated in a mythical story in which a god appeared from a small island in the rice fields of this area and changed the name of the town, which had previously been called Hinomachi, to "Tajima." The people called this god "Tadeuga Daimyojin" enshrined him as the main deity of Tajima's guardian deity, "Tadeuga Shrine."
The Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival began in the early Kamakura period
The Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival is said to have begun during the Kamakura period when Naganuma Munemasa, who was given Minamiaizu as his territory by Minamoto no Yoritomo, performed a ritual of Gion faith at Tadeuga Shrine to ward off epidemics
Gion faith spread around Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto
Gion faith is a faith in which people pray to gods to drive away the epidemics that frequently plagued Kyoto during the Heian period.It was believed that by worshiping Susanoo-no-Mikoto, who committed a crime and was banished to Ne-no-Kuni (the land of the underworld, a distant land), the epidemics would be taken away with him.
The center of this faith is Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, also known as Gion Shrine, which enshrines Susanoo as its main deity. During the period of syncretism between Shinto and Buddhism, when Shinto and Buddhism coexisted in the same shrines and temples, Gozu Tenno, the guardian deity of Gion Shoja (an Indian temple that Buddha is said to have frequented) enshrined at Yasaka Shrine (temple name: Kanjin-in), was also believed to have the same ability to calm epidemics as Susanoo
The ritual to quell the epidemic was called Goryoe, and it is said that this developed into the Gion Festival. Susanoo and the Indian god Gozu Tenno eventually came to be worshipped as the same god, and Gozu Tenno is still the deity worshipped at the Gion Festival today
Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival, organized by a party group of parishioners
The Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival took on its current form during the Edo period, when it began to be held as a festival based on the Gion Festival at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto
The Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival is held every year for three days on July 22nd, 23rd, and 24th as a joint annual festival of Tadeuga Shrine and Kumano Shrine, which is co-located with Tadeuga Shrine and enshrines Susanoo-no-Mikoto as its main deity
Shrine festivals are generally conducted by the chief priest, but the Tajima Gion Festival is not run by the chief priest, but by the parishioners. The parishioners form groups called "Otoya" and take turns running the festival each year. There are currently nine groups
The free sake is brewed at the shrine
The party house on duty for that year begins preparations in January of the festival year. Over the course of more than six months leading up to the festival day on July 22nd, various rituals such as purification ceremonies are performed, and the shimenawa ropes, tools, household altars, and sacred bridges (bridges on which the gods pass) are set up
Making special sacred sake (omikki) is also an important job of the party house
Currently, sake brewing requires a national license, but in the case of the Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival, a sake brewing license has been granted to Tadeuga Shrine since the Meiji era, and sake is brewed within the shrine with the guidance and cooperation of Tajima's sake brewery, Kokken Sake Brewery .
The sake produced is a cloudy white nigori sake made by simply adding koji to steamed rice and fermenting it, known as "doburoku." This sake is served not only to festival participants but also to visitors, so the Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival is also known as the "doburoku festival."
Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival will be held for three days from July 22nd
Day 1 (July 22nd)
"Children's Kabuki" and a large float paraded around the town
The Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival begins at 10:00 a.m. on July 22nd, when all members of the Otoya-gumi group visit Tadeuga Shrine/Kumano Shrine dressed in formal Edo period attire called hakama and kamishimo
From 1pm, the "Children's Kabuki Full Performance" will begin on the "Oyatai." The Oyatai are floats (floats) with stages large enough for Kabuki performances, and there are four of them. Over the two days of the 22nd and 23rd, in the afternoon and evening, each float will perform four different plays
The performers in the Kabuki are, of course, local children, who practice daily to be fully prepared for the festival
event of the Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival, the Nanahokai Procession, will take place from 7:50 AM . The Nanahokai Procession is a procession in which people pray for the elimination of epidemics and a bountiful harvest by offering seven offerings to Gozu Tenno (Susanoo-no-Mikoto). Around 100 members of the Otoya-gumi (party group) march to the shrine.
The offering vessels are carried by unmarried women in formal attire, and after the seven vessels, about 30 women dressed as Edo period brides, with their hair tied in a Bunkin Takashimada bun and covered with a white cloth called a tsunokakushi, and wearing long-sleeved kimono, join the procession
The procession of young women, who are particularly gorgeous in appearance, attracts many spectators and is known as "Japan's No. 1 bridal procession."
In principle, only members of the on-duty party group can participate in the bridal procession, but if there are not enough people, they will be recruited from the general public, including from outside the prefecture
Applications begin in early June, but you will need to check with the Otoya that year to see if they are accepting applications. You can find out which Otoya is on duty at the Minamiaizu Town Tourism and Products Association. Wigs, kimonos, obi, etc. are rented, and makeup and dressing are done at a beauty salon in town
The cost of rental, makeup and dressing will be around 65,000 yen, but don't worry, Minamiaizu Town will provide a subsidy of up to 60,000 yen
(Outline of the grant of bride subsidies for the Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival Seven-Line Parade Bride in Minamiaizu Town, Notice No. 32, March 20, 2006) *Regulations may be subject to change, so please check with Minamiaizu Town
A god rides on a portable shrine to ward off plague
Starting at 10:00 a.m. on July 23rd, the gods who have received offerings (kumotsu) in seven-parade vessels will ride in a portable shrine (mikoshi) and parade around the town in gratitude, exorcising disease and praying for a bountiful harvest (mikoshi togyo)
There are two mikoshi, one for Tadeuga Shrine and one for Kumano Shrine, and they are led by a procession of several dozen people dressed in costumes for various roles. The costumes worn by the women are particularly gorgeous. At the Otabisho (resting place for the mikoshi), people stomp their toes (a roppo - an exaggerated walking style used in Kabuki) and loudly call out, "Let's get the mikoshi ready!"
This portable shrine procession is also a highlight unique to the Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival
On July 24th, the festival will close at 1pm with the performance of the traditional "Dadaiokagura" in the Kagura hall shared by "Tadeuga Shrine" and "Kumano Shrine."
The Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival is held every year from July 22nd for three days and is counted as one of Japan's three major Gion festivals. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, public events such as the Shichigyōki Procession were canceled from 2020 to 2022. We look forward to seeing them again in 2023 and beyond
The role of the Otoya in the Aizu-Tajima Gion Festival, which begins in January and continues until the end of the festival, has been designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan as the "Tajima Gion Festival Otoya Event."
My love of travel grew, and I used to write a travel magazine, and now I'm a travel writer for the web. During my research, I visited all 47 prefectures in Japan, mainly in the Tohoku region, but my fun part is soaking in hot springs and experiencing traditional Japanese culture such as old townscapes, lifestyles, and performing arts and crafts.
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