Before reading the blog, you can watch the video of the event held on 19th of July, the most popular part of Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival(日田祇園曳山祭り) on Youtube! I made it.
Click the link!
Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival
Hita(日田), a small city with rich tradition
Hita has quite a lot of festivals considering its size of population and width. Among them the most popular and oldest one is Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival(日田祇園曳山祭り). Before coming to Japan, I had hoped to see what a festival or masturi(祭り) in Japan is like and compare it with ones in South Korea. One of the reasons I had been interested in festivals in Japan is that I quite often happened to read news articles that criticized monotonous and bureaucratic styles of local festivals in South Korea, many of which compared them with Japanese ones with great fame bringing lots of tourists not just from Japan but from all around the world. Luckily, I got a day off on 19th July, when the main event called 'Nagarehiki(流れ引き) was supposed to be held. Actually, my boss got me the day off because he wanted me to take pictures and videos of the festival and spread them on the Internet as a sort of promotion of tourism of Hita.
First of all, I would admit it was fantastic and worth watching!
I remember a friend of mine, after glimpsing my photos on Facebook over Hita, jokingly said,
"Hey, Jerry! you are having a great paid vacation!"
Of course, his comment is quite far from reality(I work in Hita). But 19th of July was the day when I felt like he was somewhat right.
The origin and history of Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival
The first question I had over Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival was why they have done it so long? Of course, it wouldn't be completely wrong to say that it has taken place by local leaders to attract more tourists and revitalize its local economy. But originally the festival took place for 'survival.' What was the most scary thing before the modern times for people who lived in a small city like Hita 400 years ago? It was contagious diseases. Whether in the West or the East, when it broke out, it could be disastrous enough to destroy the whole city. In the situation when no one knew how it breaks out and can be removed, the only thing people could do was praying for God or gods that it does not break out. Translating praying for God or gods is 'matsru(祭る)' in Japanese and when 'mastru' changes into the noun form, it turns to 'matsuri(祭り).' Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival is a maturi where people gather and pray for the god who protects them from contagious diseases.
Even the name 'Gion(祇園)' implies 'a place with passionate wish.' There have been a number of shrines in Japan with diverse purposes. Shrines serving the god who prohibits contagious diseases are called 'Gion Shrines.' There have been many Gion Shrines throughout Japan (the most popular one is located in Kyoto) and Hita also has had a few. Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival is run by the Gion Shrines people related to them. Gion Shrines worship a god called Gozu Teno, who is known to protect people from contagious diseases. A few Gion Shrines were located throughout Hita area including Kuma, Mameda, Ikebe, Kabu, and Tsutsumi, each of which had used to hold its own festivals or matsuris.
Around 1655, the first small scale kakiyama in which people in each area held their own float and marched streets appeared. It was accompanied by bells and drums. The first big scale Yamaboko Festival was held in 1714. Yamabokos are tower-like statues decorated with characters in ancient legends or myths from Japan or China and platforms supporting them which are carried by people on the streets. They are the things people from Hita, Kyushu, Japan, and the world are excited to see. The festival was held in Kuma and Mameda(it is the same even now). As time went by, the sizes of Yamabokos got bigger and bigger with more sophisticated decorations. Even the music accompanied became more organized getting through the early Edo period(from early 17th century to middle 19th century), when the first manager of the Koyama-gumi troupe which was a kind of music band made to energize the festival composed the first organized music for the festival by the order of the local magistrate at that time. The music was later refined by his son, Matsukichi. At the bottom of a Yamaboko, there is space where dozens of people can get in. The space is for the troupe to get in and play the music when the gangs outside carry the yamaboko.
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For the last decades, the festival got its reputation not just nationally but internationally. It was designated as a National Intangible Folk Culture asset in 1996 and inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2016 with other local ones in Japan.
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| This is Museum of Hita Gion Yamaboko. You can see big and high yamabokos whenever you want! |
July, the month of Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival
The main events are held around late July. But seeing overall procedures, it begins on the first in July. My privilege as the resident of Hita was that riding my bike passing through Kuma-mach and Mameda-mach heading for supermarkets for grocery shopping, I was able to see the whole steps of the festival throughout the month.
Here is the summary of the procedure of the festival in July(I got an English pamphlet in the museum).
On the first day of July, a ceremonial event called Koyairi takes place.
Two weeks before the marching events, another ceremony is held, when the float wheels are lifted out of the pond, where they have been usually placed. Then the painted yakata(float box) and wheels are assembled and decorated.
One week before, the floats are washed late at night on the Saturday one week before the festival, using the water of Mikuma River.
Two days before the main events, there is Nagarehiki, when the floats are given a " test drive' to check the balance and stability. As a matter of fact, it is the biggest event and attracts lots of tourists because all yamabokos gather in the square of Hita Station.
Festival day, usually Saturday, Mokoshi(portable shrine) ritual is held, and the floats are carried through the town, starting at about 9:00 pm.
Next Day in Yaburi, people involved in the festival celebrate the success of the festival and store the items used back to the places where they used to be.
Ye, it's a Japanese traditonal festival and quite different from Korean ones!
Comparing with traditional festivals I have seen in Korea, I could see three distinctive traits of Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival.
First, All the items involved in festival such as yamabokos and costumes of the participants were quite fancy or more positively splendid. Surely, one big reason for the fancy is that the economy of Hita during Edo period was quite robust. Hita was flourishing as the financial and logistic hub of Kyushu Island. For big festivals, it takes lots of money. Another reason could be that Japan was relatively less influenced by Confucianism than Korea and each local area were quite independent from the central government. Confucianism, more specifically Neo-Confucianism emphasizes frugality of not only leaders but people of communities and nations. Therefore, in Korea where Confucianism was the dominant idea or doctrine for more than 600 years before the collapse of Chosun Dynasty in 1910, it was not encouraged to have local festivals spending an enormous amount of capital. On the other hands, in Japan Daimyos(大名) who were kinds of lords who were quite autonomous from the central powers like emperors or shoguns(将軍) wanted to show off their prosperity in order to justify their authority and power. Festivals were great opportunities to do so. Even leading business people used festivals the same way. Luxurious Yamabokos represented wealth and prosperity of leading business people in Hita.
The second thing I was impressed with was the participants were quite inter-generational. Except for a few dignified traditional festivals, most volunteers who perform in traditional festivals in Korea are quite aged. Even though there has been slow change to rediscover and revalue the traditional culture among young generations, it is true that traditional cultures are not respected and protected voluntarily by the people in communities in Korea. However, in Hita, I could feel and see visible and invisible system and connection of people in the community nurturing the energy to dignify and preserve their local culture. I watched boys pulling yamabokos with old gentlemen, where there were long and steady communication among generations. It was envious.
The last impressive thing was that only men were allowed to pull Yamabokos or play music inside yamabokos. Of course, many women volunteered as supporters giving out drinking water ,but main roles were just for males. It reminded me the news I watched on TV a few months ago. A politician was speaking on a sumo stage. All of a sudden, he got a heart attack. Two female medical staff rushed up to the stage, but a staff broadcast to warn the two ladies to get off the stage because it is not permitted for women to step on the sumo stage. I still think Japan is a very discriminatory society against women.
One of my dream came true
One of dreams came true. Moreover, it gave me a great chance to think more deeply over Korea as well as Japan. I guess I've adjusted to the new living environment well enough to feel like writing blogs like this one. My plan is to expand my experience from small to big, from Hita to Japan. And I hope it goes further from Japan to East Asia, then the world.
Wish me luck!
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