Lesson 147

1 Tanabata Matsuri (Star Festival)

This festival, perhaps the most romantic of all annual functions, owes its inception to a popular belief that two lovely stars Kengyuu (Altair) and Shokujo (Vega or Weaver Star), which are set apart on either side of the Milky Way, are said to have their joyous union on that single night of each year. The most usual way of celebrating this festival, particularly by young people, is by making offerings of melons, peaches, pears, and cakes to the stars in honor of their happy union. These offerings (usually made of paper) are hung on the innumerable branches of a bamboo which is set up in the garden. The bamboo is also adorned with long narrow strips of paper of various colors, on which are written poems associated with the romantic legend.

Bon Festival

It has been observed yearly in Japan on July 13, 14, and 15 by Buddhist families ever since the introduction of that faith from China. It is a reunion of the living with the spirits of the dead, a season of kindliness and

regard for the dead and of spiritual meditation. Its purpose is to perpetuate the memory of ancestors, to stimulate ancestor-worship and filial piety, and to serve as a reminder to those who observe the festival of what their forefathers have done for them.

At the graveyards, the 13th is a day of pious devotion to family ancestors and much incense is burned. As darkness sets in, more and more families arrive at the gravesides to invite the spirits to visit their old homes and to escort them thither. White lanterns are lighted throughout the cemeteries.

The Bon Odori (Bon Dance) is another feature of Obon. It is the community dance usually held on the last night of Obon to celebrate the return of the spirits of the dead. It is best seen in the country districts, where it is the most delightful event of the year for the young folks who gather at the grounds of the local shrine or temple and dance until late in the night. Dances and songs differ according to districts and symbolize their respective local traditions. Tooro-nagashi or lantern

floating is the picturesque ending to the Obon service. To guide the ancestral spirits back to the other world, little floats are lighted with candles and floated down rivers or on the sea. Hundreds and thousands of such lighted floats are set off at one place and the people eagerly watch them float down the river or carried by the wind far away from the shore.

Shichi-go-san

A beautiful festival held on November 15 is the ”Shichi-go-san,” literally ”Seven-five-three.” On that day, parents with boys or girls of three years of age, boys of five, and girls of seven take them to visit the local shrine to express their thanks and gratitude to the tutelary deity that their children have reached these ages safely and to invoke future blessings.

Hana Matsuri (Buddha’s Birthday)

The birthday of Shaka-muni, the founder of Buddhism, is celebrated throughout Japan on April 8. Every temple of note observes the ceremony of Kambutsu-e, or

”Baptizing Ceremony of Buddha,” which consists mainly in pouring ”sweet tea” from tiny ladles over a small statue of the infant Buddha as an expression of devotion, and then drinking the tea.

Kawa-biraki

This is an ancient festival more in the nature of a carnival and it is held on the water usually on the third Saturday of July. In Tokyo it takes place on the Sumida River and is known as the ”function for opening the Sumida River.”

This festival has no religious significance, being merely designed to attract people to the river to enjoy the cool evening breezes and to stimulate the business of the restaurants, tea houses, etc., located there, under whose auspices it is held. One feature of the attraction is a display of fireworks. Boats lighted with scores of lanterns, some of them carrying geisha, singing and playing samisen, float idly on the river, presenting a picturesque scene. Thousands of people line the banks of the river and for miles around, the roofs of the houses and other places from

which the scene can be viewed are crowded with spectators.

WAKANA or NANAKUSA NO SEKKU

The seventh day of January is known as Nanakusa (seven herbs) because of the special dish served on that day, a rice-gruel seasoned with Nanakusa, or seven kinds of early herbs.

Special New Year’s Food

Special food is eaten during the New Year holidays, the first meal on New Year’s Day being a great event. The special dish is ZOONI, a sort of broth containing MOCHI (rice-cakes) and vegetables. ZOONI is as imperative during the New Year holidays as is rice on any other day of the year. Many other delicacies are served, including KAZUNOKO (herring roe), which literally means ”numerous children”; black beans, because the Japanese name for them (MAME) is pronounced in the same way, though written differently, as another Japanese word meaning ”robust”; hulled dried chestnuts (KACHIGURI), to denote success, inasmuch as the word KACHI means ”victory or triumph”; dried seaweed (KOMBU)

for happiness; the lotus root, the lotus being a sacred plant which, though growing in muddy water, has its stems going straight upwards and bearing a pure white flower.

Besides the food mentioned, a ceremonial drink, TOSO, is served at this time in the belief that it possesses a preventive power against sickness in general. TOSO is a sweet SAKE(MIRIN) flavored with cassia bark and other spicy ingredients. MOCHI, a kind of rice-paste, made into flat, round or square cakes of many sizes, is eaten throughout the holidays.

Guide for Free Conversation and Exercise

1 Topics:

a Talk about the following topics in Japanese with your classmates.

(1) The Nine Festivals

(2) The Five Annual Festivals

2 Exercise:

a Interpretation Exercise

(1) What is the most important day for the Japanese people?

(1) 元日です。

(2) What do they do on New Year’s Day?

(2) 元日の 朝 おとそを 飲み、ぞうにを 食べます。大人は 年始に まわります。

(3) What is the ”Obon Festival?”

(3) 陰暦七月十三、十四、十五日の 三日間に 行なわれる仏事で、昼は 墓参りをし、夜は ぼんおどりをして、にぎわいます。

(4) What is the “River Festival” on the Sumida River?

(4) それは 七月下旬に 行なわれる 年中行事の一つで、花火の 打ち上げが 呼物の一つになっています。