Shishimai festival



Another year, another Liondance festival in Takashiba, the small neighborhood of Shimosato that lies on the west bank of the Ohta River. It's the second year I have participated in the festival, so I had a better idea of what to expect. I also had acquired a bit more skill at the flute during the last month or so of nightly practices, so I felt a little more comfortable and capable participating.

Just like last year, there was a fair amount of rain throughout the weekend, but it had little to no effect on the events, and even less on the drunken revelers. The main performance on the second day had to be moved inside, but that was no problem. The rain also meant that we got to spend more time inside people's houses, which is my favorite part of the festival. Beside the two main public shishimai performances (on the first night and the second day) the bulk of the festival is thirty-odd yukata clad men (as well as a number of children, boys and girls), charged up on sake and beer (not the kids), playing the flute, drums, and either carrying or wheeling a 250lb+ wooden shrine from one house to another in the neighborhood along a pre-arranged, but seemingly random path. Upon arriving at a house, the procession enters the house, drinks, eats, performs, drinks, eats, and then heads off to the next house. This continues for two nights and three days.

This year my friend Jeff came down from Wakayama City to get in on the action. We found a yukata to fit him, but had less luck with the footwear. It was great having him there to share in the experience (though he did spend few hours crashed out in a friend's car). He has written about his weekend and put a few pictures up on his blog.

I also have a few pictures up on my site.

One of the highlights for me was getting the playing the flute for Shinmeisha at both of our main performances this year. Shinmeisha is a song that is sung by the entire group that apparently tells a little about the history of the shrine where our shishmai festival originated, though I can't understand it at all. It is a lot easier to remember the melody than the words.

Another highlight was going to see the shishimai festival in Shimosato Tenma, another festival that happens on the same weekend in the neighborhood where Kyoko lives. Our festival ends early Sunday afternoon and Tenma has their main performance on Sunday night, so I headed over their, still reeling from the morning festivities. Upon arriving in Tenma I was greeted with open arms and overflowing cups that I tried, in vain, to refuse. After an hour or so a large contingency from Takashiba showed up to see some of the Temna festival as well. It was apparently the first time something like that had happened. In the past it was known that fights could break out if members of the other nearby festivals crossed into another nieghborhood. I had told everyone that I was going and apparently they decided they would go too. It turned out to be a very amicable meeting, no fights. The main performance in Tenma is performed inside a shrine. It was the only shishimai I had ever seen besides the one I am a member of, which was really interesting. Our shishimai is a male adult lion, and in Tenma it is a child. They played the same instruments and mostly the same tunes, but the melodies were embelished differently and the shishimai moved more playfully.

Next month I will go on a cultural exchange tour with our shishimai group to South Korea. I don't know many details yet, but I will put more up about that in later posts.

Posted: Mon - September 19, 2005 at 06:50 PM        

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