Aoi Matsuri
Encyclopedia
Hollyhock
Alcea , commonly known as hollyhocks, is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae. Most species are native to southwest and central Asia, although a few are native to southeast Europe or Egypt...
Festival," is one of the three main annual festivals
Japanese festivals
Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions. Some festivals have their roots in Chinese festivals but have undergone dramatic changes as they mixed with local customs....
held in Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the other two being the Festival of the Ages
Jidai Matsuri
The is a traditional Japanese festival held on October 22 annually in Kyoto, Japan. It is one of Kyoto's renowned three great festivals, with the other two being the Aoi Matsuri, held annually on May 15, and the Gion Matsuri, which is held annually from 17 to July 24...
(Jidai Matsuri) and the Gion Festival
Gion Matsuri
The takes place annually in Kyoto and is one of the most famous festivals in Japan. It spans the entire month of July and is crowned by a parade, the on July 17. It takes its name from Kyoto's Gion district....
. It is a festival of the two Kamo shrines in the north of the city, Shimogamo Shrine
Shimogamo Shrine
Shimogamo Shrine, called Shimogamo-jinja in Japanese, is the common name of an important Shinto sanctuary in the Shimogamo district of Kyoto city's Sakyō ward. Its formal name is Kamo-mioya-jinja...
and Kamigamo Shrine
Kamigamo Shrine
is an important Shinto sanctuary on the banks of the Kamo River in north Kyoto, first founded in 678. Its formal name is the .It is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan and is one of the seventeen Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which have been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site...
. The festival may also be referred to as the Kamo Festival.
History
According to the ancient historical record known as the Nihon ShokiNihon Shoki
The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...
, the festival originated during the reign of Emperor Kinmei (r. A.D. 539, 12th month, 5th day - 571, 4th month, 15th day). The ancient records known as the Honchō getsurei (本朝月令) and Nenchūgyōji hissho (年中行事秘抄) reveal that a succession of disastrous rain and wind had ruined the grain crops, and epidemics had spread through the country. Because diviners placed the cause as owing to the divine punishment of the Kamo deities, the emperor sent his messenger with a retinue to the shrine to conduct various acts to appease the deities, in prayer for a bountiful harvest. These included riding a galloping horse.
This became an annual ritual, and the galloping horse performance developed into an equestrian archery performance. According to the historical record known as the Zoku Nihongi (続日本記）, so many people had come to view this equestrian performance on the festival day in the 2nd year of the reign of Emperor Mommu
Emperor Mommu
was the 42nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Mommu's reign spanned the years from 697 through 707.-Traditional narrative:Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was Karu-shinnō....
(r. 697-707) that the event was banned.
In the ninth century, Emperor Kanmu established the seat of the imperial throne in Kyoto. This represented the beginning of the Heian Period
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
in Japanese history. Emperor Kanmu recognized the deities of the Kamo shrines as protectors of the Heian capital, and established the Aoi Matsuri as an annual imperial event (Aoi, 2007).
The festival saw its peak of grandeur in the middle of the Heian Period, but this waned in the Kamakura Period
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
and the following Muromachi Period
Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...
, and as the nation entered the Sengoku Period
Sengoku period
The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...
, the festival procession was discontinued. In the Genroku era (1688–1704) of the Edo Period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, it was revived, but in the 2nd year of the Meiji Period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
(1869), when the capital was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo, observance of the festival procession stopped. In Meiji 17 (1885), it was again revived as part of a government plan to enliven Kyoto. All but the rituals at the shrine fronts were discontinued from 1944, due to World War II. At last, the festival procession started to be held again from 1953. The Saiō-Dai festival princess tradition was initiated in 1956.
The festival has been called Aoi festival for the hollyhock leaves used as decoration throughout the celebration. These leaves were once believed to protect against natural disasters (Frang, 2002).
Festival events
There are two parts to Aoi Matsuri: the procession and the shrine rites (Frang, 2002). The procession is the lead by the Imperial Messenger. Following the imperial messenger are: two oxcarts, four cows, thirty-six horses, and six hundred people (Frang, 2002). All of which are dressed in traditional Heian period costumes decorated with aoi leaves (Frang, 2002). The procession starts at 10:30 of May 15 and leaves the Kyoto Imperial Palace and slowly works its way towards the Shimogamo shrine and finally the Kamigamo shrine (Shively, 1999). When they finally arrive at both shrines, the Saiō-Dai and Imperial Messenger would perform their rituals. The Saiō-Dai would simply pay her respects to the deities and the Imperial Messenger would intone the imperial rescript praising the deities and requesting their continued favor (Shively, 1999).There are two main figures of Aoi Matsuri: the Saiō-Dai and the Imperial Messenger (Aoi, 2006). The Saiō-Dai is a woman who is chosen from the sisters and daughters of the emperor to dedicate herself to the Shimogamo shrine. The role of Saiō-Dai was to maintain ritual purity and to represent the Emperor at the festival. Now, the role of the Saiō-Dai is played by an unmarried woman in Kyoto (Aoi, 2009). She would be dressed in the traditional style of the Heian court. Traditional Heian court dress for women would be wearing several layers of exquisitely colored silk robes (Layered, 1995). The Saiō-Dai wears twelve layers of the traditional style robes (jūnihitoe
Junihitoe
The is an extremely elegant and highly complex kimono that was only worn by court-ladies in Japan. Literally translated, it means "twelve-layer robe". The older term, still used by scholars but not widely recognised in mainstream Japan, is Karaginu Mo...
). To maintain ritual purity, the Saiō-Dai goes through several ceremonies of purification before the procession of the festival. The Imperial Messenger leads the festival procession on horseback (Aoi, 2009). During the Heian period he would be a Fifth-Rank courtier holding the office of middle or lesser captain and was usually a man destined for high office (Shively, 1999). His role was to read the imperial rescript of the shrines and present the emperor’s offerings (Shively, 1999). During the Heian period, the Saiō-Dai and the Imperial messenger would be accompanied by ten dancers and twelve musicians (Shively, 1999).
Also featured at the Kamo no matsuri are horse races (kurabe-uma), and demonstrations of mounted archery
Mounted archery
A horse archer, horsed archer, or mounted archer is a cavalryman armed with a bow, able to shoot while riding from horseback. Archery has occasionally been used from the backs of other riding animals...
(yabusame
Yabusame
is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets....
).
External links
Works cited
- Aoi Matsuri (2004). Retrieved from website on 20 Jan 2009
- Aoi Matsuri. (2009). Retrieved from website on 20 Jan 2009
- Aoi Matsuri Festival. (2007). Retrieved from website on 20 Jan 2009
- Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival). (2009). Retrieved from website on 20 January 2009
Friang, M. (2002, May). Rites of Heritage. World & I. May2002, Vol. 17 Issue 5, p176, 8p, 4 color. Retrieved from MAS Ultra – School Edition database on 21 January 2009.
The Layered Look. (1995, March/April). Civilization Mar/Apr 1995. Vol. 2 Issue 2, p22, ¼p, 1 color. Retrieved from Academic Search Premiere database on 20 January 2009.