On Sunday Tina, Steve, Jodi and I went to a summer festival at Yashiro-Ohtoshi Shrine. It is only 5 minutes from our house and it is so tucked away that I didn’t even know it was there!
There was a huge Chinowa (ring of thatched grass) that you had to walk through and go to the left, go through and go to the right before going through again and heading straight to the shrine to give money to the gods, ring the bell, clap your hands, close your eyes and pray.
The Chinowa
Me walking through it.
We were then given a mini-chinowa that you hang in your house for good luck and health for the next 6 months. (There is another festival for the following 6 months.)
There was a religious service that involved a priest who spoke and then he dipped bamboo branches into hot water and shook it on us. This was a form of blessing. We all then followed the priest to walk through the Chinowa again. Before our last turn through it we were given a branch to also hang in our house for good luck.
There were games for children at the shrine and the people there were keen for us to have a go too! There was a toy balloon game which involved using a hook with a paper string to pick up the string attached to a balloon floating in water. The trick is to do it before the paper disintegrates!
There was another game which I didn't do as it involved using a paper spoon to fish out goldfish! You have to see how many you can get before the spoon disintegrates! Poor fish!
It was a good way to spend a Sunday morning and I think that the local people enjoyed seeing foreigners interested in their festival.
1 comment:
This was a cute little ceremony. I am glad that I got to see it.
Post a Comment