Tanabata

On Tanabata 七夕 (literally “seven evening”, held on the evening of the 7^th of July) the lovers Orihime 織姫 and Kengyū 牽牛 are remembered. According to the legend, which actually originated in China1, this mythical couple is separated by a river. However, if it rains on Tanabata, magpies will flock together and form a bridge so they can be reunited.

People write wishes for the future on coloured papers called tanzaku 短冊 and tie them to some bamboo leaves.

Footnotes

1 It is still celebrated in China, where the characters are pronounced as “Qīxī”, but also in Korea where it is called Chilseok 칠석, deriving from the same characters.

References

Tanabata to shōsho (七夕(たなばた)と小暑(しょうしょ)). "BrushUp Blog". live-pls.com (2011). <www.live-pls.com/blog/?category=brush-up&start=40> (retrieved 24-7-2012).

Anyō-in

I visited the Anyō-in 安養院 in Itabashi  板橋, a temple that  is connected to the Shingon sect and enshrines Amida-nyorai 阿弥陀如来 and Benzai-ten 弁財天. Overall, the temple domain is rather big as there is a graveyard within and trees provide shade which creates a tranquil atmosphere. Remarkable in this temple yard are the dozens of statues of different manifestations of Kannon-bosatsu 観音菩薩.

The main gate

Graves in the background with quite a lot of ita-tōba 板塔婆 (wooden stūpa), a statue of Jizō-bosatsu 地蔵菩薩 in the middle and a large stūpa with the Siddhaṃ character that symbolises Amida-nyorai.

Some Jizō-bosatsu statues that seem to be connected to mizu-kuyō 水供養.

Nyoirin Kannon

Jūichi-men Kannon

Sen-ju Kannon

Batō Kannon

Main Hall

Statues in the back of the temple yard

Blue-faced vajra (青面金剛 Shōmen-kongō) connected to Kōshin-kō 庚申講 (For more information on this subject refer to earlier post). 

Buckets and ladles (柄杓 hishaku) provided by the temple for maintenance of the graves.

San-ja Matsuri

On May 19^th, I went to San-ja Matsuri 三社祭, the festival of the three shrines. This is probably one of the biggest and most intense religious festivals in Tōkyō. Numerous mikoshi 神輿 (portable shrines), one looking more expensive than another, are carried around by strong men who seem to get in some sort of trance. The event takes places in several areas of Asakusa, but the busiest area is the vicinity of the Sensō-ji 浅草寺. San-ja Matsuri is an excellent example of a religious activity where the distinction between Shintō and Buddhism is hard to make. 

A mikoshi decorated with shide 紙垂 (sacred paper), a small torii 鳥居 (Shintō style gate) and a golden phoenix on top.

Some children carrying a miniature mikoshi

San-ja Matsuri decoration in the outskirts of the city

Segakie in Gokoku-ji

On the 18^th of May, I attended the Sekigae 施餓鬼会 of the Gokoku-ji 護国寺. The Sekigae  is held for the gaki 餓鬼, the hungry spirits who dwell at the bottom of reincarnation cycle. Nowadays the ceremony also involves remembering deceased family members.

At Gokoku-ji an altar was constructed right outside the main temple with sticks made out of wood bearing inscriptions in the siddhaṃ alphabet, as this temple is affiliated with the Shingon sect, and a big tent was set up to offer shade to the predominantly elderly visitors. When I arrived at the scene, a devotee was speaking to the audience, telling some comical anecdotes that usually had a conclusion with a message inspired by Buddhist teachings. A television screen was provided to show the people who were sitting outside what was going on inside. Afterwards, the enormous temple bell was struck several times as the priests and monks slowly approached the temple. They started off by honouring the temple’s main idol, Nyoirin Kannon 如意輪観音. This statue, which is usually hidden (秘仏 hibutsu) was briefly revealed (開帳 kaichō) at this point. Next, the hungry spirits were honoured by chanting and the Heart Sutra (般若心経 Hannyashin-gyō) was recited. Later on, people got in line to throw an offering of incense in a vessel with burning charcoal that was placed near the altar. At the same time, someone recited what appeared to be the names of deceased people (perhaps relatives of the visitors?).

The tent

The monks approaching

The altar

Devotees waiting their turn to offer some incense