Ritual kicks off Gion Festival in Kyoto

[Ceewan]

KYOTO -- The "Osendo no Gi" ritual, an event signaling the commencement of Kyoto's famous Gion Festival, was held here at Yasaka Shrine on July 1, with a "chigo," or boy who will ride on a "naginata hoko" (halberd float), praying for safety during the festival.

At around 10 a.m. 11-year-old chigo Ryushin Kumeda, wearing scarlet hakama trousers and white face makeup, and two assistants visited the shrine in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward, accompanied by members of a naginata hoko preservation association. After a purification ceremony, they circled the shrine's main hall clockwise three times.


The Gion Festival, one of Japan's largest festivals, runs through July 31.

 

[Ceewan]

Chosen child rides through Kyoto in traditional Gion Festival ritual


KYOTO -- A child chosen to take part in processions in Kyoto's Gion Festival visited Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward on July 13 as part of the festival's solemn "Shasan no Gi" ritual.

During the ritual, the child, or "chigo," 11-year-old Ryushin Kumeda, was designated as a "divine messenger." He will ride on the leading "naginata hoko" (halberd float) in a procession during the festival.

Dressed in Heian period costume with a traditional headpiece, Kumeda rode through the streets on a white horse on July 13, departing from Kyoto's Shimogyo Ward. At the shrine's main temple, he was given a traditional fifth-level court rank and feudal lord status. He left on the shoulders of a man given the title "Goriki," as the boy's feet must not touch the ground until the procession is over.

 

[Ceewan]

KYOTO--With the month-long Gion Festival in full swing, the streets were packed with spectators on July 14 as the festivities entered one of the highlight periods.

On the first day of the three-day “Yoiyama” (eve) period of the “Sakimatsuri” (front festival), 23 floats appeared in the central part of Kyoto city amid the playing of traditional “Gionbayashi” music.

Illuminated by “chochin” paper lanterns, the floats produced dreamlike scenes for the many onlookers who flooded the streets to enjoy the sights and sounds.

On July 15 and 16, parts of Shijodori and Karasumadori streets will be closed off to vehicle traffic from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. On July 17, the floats will be paraded through the city. The Gion Festival is considered to be one of the three major festivals in Japan.

 

[columbussnake]

Does the boy that was given such high status retain that status during his entire life ...
or does he have it only until the end of the Gion Festival?

 

[Ceewan]

Just for the festival, a new boy gets the privledge of being chigo next year. At least that was my understanding of the whole thing. Looks good for the part though.

On the Naginata Hoko is the chigo, a young boy in Shinto robes and crowned by a golden phoenix, chosen from among the Kyoto merchant families as the deity's sacred page. After weeks of special purification ceremonies, during which he lives isolated from contaminating influences such as the presence of women, he is carried atop the float as he is not permitted to touch the ground. The boy must cut a sacred rope (shimenawa) with a single stroke to begin the matsuri.