Friday, 18 October 2002

by Takako Onoda, Yasuyo Miki & Mari Miki, Masashi Shimatani, Akio Kurosaka, Sumako Kobayashi, Tadao Saito, Takao Okamoto, Non, Junko Umezawa and Mayumi T at Shogai Adult University in Himeji.

Movie clips & web page design by Michael Cowling, photos by Barbara Burr

Yasuyo Miki and Mari Miki interviewed by Barbara Burr, exchange teacher

The Nada Fighting Festival is the most exciting time in the year in Himeji. Catch the [Sanyo] train and get off at Shirahama Station and then follow the crowds. Walk South for about 2 or 3 minutes.

From 12 Noon is the best time to see the shrines as they arrive in front of Matsubara Jinja. Around 5 or 6 pm, the shrines will be gathered together in a line inside the gate at Matsubara Jinja. The portable shrines have several names - yasa, yatai and sometimes mikoshi. Mikoshi are especially used for fighting. The fighting is the next day, Tuesday 15 October, in a fighting place, a different place [Hirobatake].

This year, the heaviest shrine is Mega's which weighs about 2,000 kg. One hundred or more men are needed to carry it. There will be seven portable shrines. They are beautifully decorated. The shrines come from Matsubara in red, Nakamura in blue, Yaka in orange, Mega in red, Usazaki in yellow, Higashiyama in pink and Kiba in green.

The purpose of every Autumn festival is to celebrate the harvest.

To get a good view, you need to book a place in a stand. Each district has a certain number of places. People can't get a place easily because, after each festival, people make a reservation for next year!

Rules for fighting:

• Only three mikoshi can take part. Mikoshi are different from the highly decorated shrines because they are small and much lighter.
• They are designed to get broken by being hit with bamboo sticks and kicked.
• Every year, it is a different town's turn. This year it is Nakamura.
• The men carry the mikoshi and crash into the other mikoshi. Then they jump onto the sides and roof and kick and smash with bamboo sticks. This is the most exciting time. And it can be dangerous because people - men carrying and spectators - can be crushed between or under the shrines. Often there is an ambulance waiting to take the injured to hospital.
• The most broken mikoshi is the champion.

Takao Okamoto

The Nada Fighting Festival is famous because three portable shrines try to throw violently and knock down the other party's portable shrine. The portable shrine falls and the roof breaks. Some of the people involved are injured.

Takako Onoda

I'm looking forward to the Nada Fighting Festival. They - a group of young village men in happi coats - carry mikoshi, portable Shinto shrine, on their shoulders through the neighbourhood. But for the festival, the young men do not wear happi coats. They put on only loin clothes and they shout "Wasshoi! Wasshoi!". The festival is very beautiful and exciting.

Masashi Shimatani

Every year on the 14 ~ 15 October is the Nada Fighting Festival, famous across the whole country. [We can see] the heroic, dramatic collisions between the shrines. Every year, some men are wounded. Sometimes, a person dies. It is a very dangerous festival.

Akio Kurosaka

There are decorations for the festival all over the town. For example, there are beautiful yatai [heavy portable shrines] with many colourful banners and streamers. On 14 ~ 15 October, some people carry a heavy portable shrine on their shoulders and walk in the parade. They gather in the Matsubara Yahata Shrine. The grounds are filled with a large audience to see the fighting. Nada fighting is very powerful and a brave fight. Each portable shrine is repeatedly hitting against the others. It's a very exciting, terrible fight and that event isn't passed quietly. But it's a really exciting festival in Japan.

Sumako Kobayashi

The Nada Fighting Festival is famous because three portable shrines crash against each other. It's an heroic parade. The Tunomiya Lantern Parade is more beautiful. That is Japanese traditional style.

Tadao Saito

The Nada Fighting Festival is a famous event in Hyogo [Prefecture]. Beautiful decorated yatai [heavy portable shrines] jostle roughly sometimes in a dangerous condition. Kishiwata, in Osaka Prefecture, is also famous for its fighting festival. One man died on the last festival day. I live near the shrine that is called Yashino Ohtoshi Jinja [shrine]. I'm a member of the management to take care of the shrine. Our shrine's Autumn Festival will be held on October 12 & 13. Nine yatai will be coming to the shrine and one big yatai on the shrine will make a welcome - neriawase - not fighting.

Junko Umezawa

The Nada Fighting Festival is famous because [the men] violently carry the yatai to the shrine. But our local festival - Koimo Festival - is graceful. It is on 19 & 20 October. We love it. So my husband is the leader of our town, Chuji. He is very busy every night with the preparations. I'll make sushi and a lot of food also hang out a lantern. The neighbourhood and young men will carry the portable shrine in front of my house on the 19th day. We are excited. The 20th is the day we go to the shrine.

Non

I'm looking forward to the Autumn Festival every year since I was a child. In my town, only boys could hit the drum. I envied them. Now, my husband and other guys teach elementary school boys how to hit the drum and sing the special songs every night before the festival which is held on October 12 & 13. He loves the festival and to carry the yatai (portable shrine). It is very heavy but he said that carrying it is very exciting and fun! I like watching him with the yatai. And also I hope nobody will be injured at the festival. Every night I listen to the drum that the kids hit for practice. I am so excited!

Mayumi T

I live in Yasutomicho which is north of Himeji, very countryside. We are going to have Autumn Festival. On the first day, Yoimiya, our children carry omikoshi to the rhythm of taiko - Japanese drum. Residents of our area donate a small amount of money for the festival. Second day, Honniya, children carry omikoshi and walk to the shrine. We express our thanks for our harvest with this festival.