goryo matsuri

with about 1600 buddhist temples and 400 shinto shrines, kyoto is one of the top attractions in japan. so, on my second day in kyoto i had some temples on my list that i wanted to visit. but i didn't get very far...

on my way to the second temple, i met a group of men, who i first thought to be a group of martial art fighters because of their outfit. dear japanese people, please forgive me my cultural ignorance. but luckily in a conversation with one of the men, i learned that they were preparing a religious shinto ceremony - goryo matsuri. so the temple-hopping was over for me, because without further ado this nice guy asked me to join the upcoming ceremony which i then accompanied almost the whole day.

matsuri are japanese folk festivals, which often have a religious background. the highlight of the ceremony is the procession of decorated portable shinto shrines. these are carried on two long carrying beams through the streets by a group of mostly men. from time to time the procession stops and the shrines are swayed wildly back and forth accompanied by rhythmic calls - this continues almost the whole day, until the shrine is returned to the temple in the late evening when everyone is visibly exhausted but also happily exhilarated.

a few days later in tokyo, by concidence, i experienced the same spectacle again.