Encyclopedia of Shinto

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カテゴリー1： 5. Rites and Festivals
カテゴリー2： Individual Shrine Observances
Title
Hana matsuri (Yamagata)
Text
"Flower Festival." A festival held on July 15 at the Dewa Mountain Shrines (Dewa Sanzan Jinja), in Haguro Town, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata Prefecture. In the Tōke village at the foot of the mountain, both sides of the roads and the interiors of the houses are decorated with natural and hand-made flowers and artificial flowers. Following the ritual service, the procession of the portable shrine (mikoshi) sets off from the main shrine building (shadeni), led by a long ritual pole (bonten) topped with paper streamers and decorated with numerous flowers. Once the bonten and the mikoshi have completed their circuit around the Kagami pond, festival participants rush from all sides to take the flowers decorating the bonten. The flowers are believed to serve as charms for family safety and against diseases.
Between the end of November and early January all shrines in Toyone Village, Tōei Town, and Tsugu Village in the Shitara District of Aichi Prefecture hold ritual hot water ablutions (yudate) and performances of ritual dances (kagura). These observances are collectively called "the Flower Festival (Hana matsuri)". The "flower" refers in this case to the lotus that blossoms in the Buddhist Pure Land. There are numerous other examples of festivals in which flowers are presented as offerings to the kami being called "flower festivals".
In the Flower Festival held on November 1 at the Hachiman Shrine of Aba Village, Tomata District, Okayama Prefecture, villagers of the eight local areas decorate festival floats (dashi) each in its own style with elaborately crafted umbrella-shaped artificial flowers. The floats are then paraded by young people through the streets of the village.
There is a Flower Festival on April 25 at Shiogama Shrine (Shiogama Jinja) of Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture. Another Flower Festival (kenka sai - flower offering festival) is celebrated on April 22 at Ikasuri Shrine (Ikasuri Jinja) in Ōsaka City, Ōsaka Prefecture. At Myōkengū Shrine in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture a Flower Festival is held in April, at the peak of the blossoming season. Numerous other Flower Festivals are held in April, when cherry blossoms are in bloom. It is for the same reason that the celebration of Buddha's Birthday (kanbutsu-e) of April 8 is also referred to as a "Flower Festival".
— Mogi Sakae

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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