Kishibojin Oeshiki – Zoshigaya This Weekend

If you are in Tokyo this weekend and not interested in the massive Kawagoe festival taking place in Saitama Prefecture just north of Tokyo I recommend visiting the far smaller but almost as crowded Oeshiki ceremony at Kishibojin in Zoshigaya, a 10 minute walk south of Ikebukuro station. Kishibojin temple is one of those religious mysteries of which there are so many in Japan. Even the name is unclear as it changes from different maps and signs, and it is a hybrid Shrine/Temple celebrating Oeshiki which is a distinctly buddhist ceremony a week later than all the other Oeshiki ceremonies, it is officially called a shrine but it has no torii gate but a small Inarijinja. I have visited dozens of times but I still haven’t unravelled this one. More studies needed!

Yesterday when I took these photos was the first evening of the three night event. Tonight and tomorrow will be much bigger with thousands of people taking part and as many onlookers crowding the narrow streets leading up to Kishibojin temple. Like at the Oeshiki in the main Nichiren temple in Ikegami last week, there are lots of matoi dancers as well as the larger mando. It is considered good luck to touch one of the white paper flowers and you can even buy them to decorate your home altar at a small stand inside the temple, but unlike the main ceremony in Ikegami touching them is not encouraged and I have never seen anyone doing it, so it is probably better to ask before reaching out and getting some of that good luck!

Photographing this even it extremely difficult, fast moving, dark and quite introverted this is not a photogenic festival despite all the fantastic things going on! Also, if you are into amezaiku the man at Zoshigaya this weekend is really talented. Also, while visiting the festival you can check out what is probably the oldest kiosk in continuous operation in the world, having started in 1781!

Bonodori Drummers

In July last year during the strict electricity savings I took these photos at a bondori festival in Zoshigaya near Ikebukuro in central Tokyo. Bonodori festivals are always in the summer, hot, sticky and very intense, one of the classic Japanese summer festivals. It is usually difficult to take photos in the lights from the bonodori lantern decorations, but this summer the festivals were even darker than usual, just as dark as in these pictures, and the only light being a bright red. This particular festival is usually visited by a group of young and very talented taiko drummers. Just editing these pictures I really started to long for summer, before spring has barely started!

Bonodori Kids at Kishibojin Temple

Obon, the second most important Japanese holiday is fast approaching (if you don’t know the obon holiday, think of it as a Japanese Christmas and Halloween rolled into one). Obon means the season of Bonodori, or Bon dancing, is upon us! Basically every little village or town in Japan has their own variation of this dancing, one of the most common is a dance that is meant to honor the ancestor spirits, called Bonodori. In Tokyo, at the temple of Kishibojin there is every year a grand Bonodori festival with a proper yagura (a raised wooden platform for official dancers and musicians). The dance goes counter clockwise around the yagura, the whole area lit up by a multitude of colored lanterns.

As in any country, this festival is a great opportunity for kids to get out and enjoy traditional culture. Here are some photos of local kids in various outfits. For this I used my favorite lens, the Nikon 135mm f2 DC. Shooting in dark places like this, where all the available light is one single color is quite difficult, for most of these I had to crank the ISO up to 3200. Challenging but fun. If you’ve been following this blog you might remember the post I did on the kiosk on the temple grounds (terrible pictures, I have to get better ones and repost). This kiosk was up and running in 1781, but the temple itself was founded in 1561 I think, it seems it took them a little time to attract business. These days the kiosk is joined by a tea house serving fantastic little cakes, well worth a visit. Kishibojin is within walking distance from Ikebukuro station or more easily accesible from either Higashi Ikebukuro, Zoshigaya or Kishibojinmae stations. Oh, and by the way, the head monk is a fellow Nikonian (at least from what I could see as he was walking around the festival that night).

More on Obon, Bonodori and Kishibojin temple coming up this week. Enjoy!

Zoshigaya Festival – 3

Unless you are growing tired of festival photos, I have some more to show from the Zoshigaya festival a couple of weeks ago. Can’t wait for next year’s festival to come along!