「帆手祭」2024 宮城県塩竈市鹽竈神社 2024/03/10
Shiogama Shrine Ichimoriyama, Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture Hote Matsuri, a fire festival in which a 1-ton portable shrine ascends and descends a 202-step approach to the shrine. This is one of Japan’s three most violent mikoshi festivals.
In 1682, the port of Shiogama was hit by a great fire. Shiogama, a port town, suffered from a depression due to the decrease in the number of ships coming and going. The Hote Festival was held by young people who wanted to change the stagnant situation of the city.
Shiogama Shrine was a special place, and at that time, the general public was forbidden to enter the shrine from the Karamon gate. Only on festival days, young people were allowed to enter and leave the shrine to help enliven Shiogama, which was also the town in front of the shrine gate.
At that time, there were no portable shrines, and people paraded around the town carrying a a wand with hemp and paper streamers.
When the current portable shrine was built in 1733, the festival changed to a town parade of portable shrines, and in 1872, the name was changed to “Hote Matsuri,” which is more appropriate for a port town.
Festivals and fairs during the Edo (1603-1867) period were strictly limited in size and frequency, and this festival was similarly suspended for a time because it was considered “extravagant” to hold it every year.
However, as soon as it was suspended, it was revived again due to a major fire that year, and has continued to the present day, including during the war.
Today, the festival is a spectacular affair with rows of offerings numbering as many as 500 people. It is also famous as a rough portable shrine, and numerous anecdotes have been left behind.
The highlight of the festival is the 202 steps that the portable shrine ascends and descends on its way to and from the shrine. The procession is performed by 16 shrine parishioners dressed in white and wearing raven hats.
Also, the parade of the 1-ton portable shrine will be held for 8 hours over a distance of about 16 km through Shiogama City, so you can enjoy the scenery of the city as well. The parade will also pass through the Honmachi shopping district, which was featured in our previous Shiogama city walking video, so you can take some great photos with the nostalgic streetscape in the background.
Departure Ceremony of the portable shrine Sake and purifying salt are offered to purify the participants and prepare for the transfer of the deity to the portable shrine. Kensen-no-gi
This is a ceremony in which the offering from the altar is served to the invited deity. The lid is removed from the sacred wine and water.
There are three worship halls at Shiogama Shrine: the left and right halls and the annex worship hall. Each of them has its own deity, “Takemikazuchi,” “Futsunushi no Kami,” and the main deity, “Shiotsuchioji”, so perhaps there are three sets of “offerings” as well. Tessen-no-gi
Cover the lid with sake and water, and lower the offerings. Fire extinguishing dance (Tokyo Haneda: Sazanami matoi ren) Departure of the portable shrine I found some information about the procession, and I’d like to talk about the composition. (They say it is from 1921)
I can’t explain in detail, so I’ll be brief. It consists roughly of a front and back camp and a main camp, with the main camp being shrine-related personnel.
The front and rear ranks are organized identically, but are composed of shrine parishioners carrying the shrine’s flags, weapons, etc. The other parishioners are children and miko (shrine maidens). In addition, a procession of children and miko (shrine maidens) joins the procession.
This is perhaps the most dangerous “beginning of descent” scene. If the mikoshi is dropped and slides down, small cars will be running on the stairs, and the mikoshi procession will be in serious trouble.
A 1-ton portable shrine is supported by 16 people, which is 62.5 kg per person by simple calculation. For a simple comparison, let’s assume a situation where two people are lowering a 130 kg piece of furniture from the second floor, which is a ridiculously harsh condition.
Balance the forces of front and back, and adjust the posture. Since the top of the stairs is sandy, it is very dangerous to slip on the stone steps if you step on them at an angle.
Note: You should not look at the “vehicle of God”, the mikoshi, from above while it is in procession. The correct way to view the mikoshi is from the bottom of the stairs. Shiogama Kaido (Road)
I hurried down the “Nanamagari-zaka” slope of the old approach to the shrine in order to take pictures of the portable shrines that were to be carried from Omotesando-sando. The portable shrines make their rounds, stopping at “o-tabisho,” or “travel stops,” set up in each district.
In the old days, instead of using the stone steps on the main approach, the portable shrine used to go up and down the “Nanamagari-zaka” slope on the old road, but since the slope is steep like a natural road, there were still people who slipped and fell.
The change was made on the grounds that it was, and still is, “dangerous.” Even after the mountain stairs are over, the mikoshi bearers have to walk fast and run short while moving. Akasaka District The ritual is performed by walking around each district of the city. Move to the next district.
Tohoku Main Line and Senseki Tohoku Line Guard Shiogama City is mostly hilly, and travel between districts is “hilly. (60% of the flat land in the city is reclaimed land.) Gongendo District Shirakiku-cho, Shiogama City Shiogama Fruit and Vegetable Market Shiogama City Tamagawa We are heading for “Shiogama Tamagawa Elementary School. JR Shiogama Station
After this, we will visit other areas, “Hon Shiogama Ekimae”, “Mikama Shrine”, etc. We will return to the shrine in another 6 hours. We finished shooting here and went home to buy “Nerimono”, a local specialty of Shiogama, I bought some fish paste, a specialty of Shiogama, and went home. We hope you enjoyed it.
See you later ( ^_^)/~~~~
宮城県塩竈市の鹽竈神社のお祭り「帆手祭」を観てきました。
全工程では8時間位掛かるので、平日開催の場合に撮影が困難な出発の方を撮影しました。
今回は全体で1時間弱になるので、分割動画を先に投稿しています。
・撮影範囲：発輿祭から神輿渡御 塩釜駅まで
分割投稿動画
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnG8eM8-_YTU0OFFMokjRYWolqFBJmZbR
・01 発輿祭・纏奉納（東京羽田：さヾ奈美纏連）「帆手祭」2024
・02 神輿出発 [階段最上部から撮影] 「帆手祭」2024
・03 神輿渡御 表参道-赤坂地区「帆手祭」2024
・04 神輿渡御 赤坂地区 塩釜駅「帆手祭」2024
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#宮城県
#塩竈市
#鹽竈神社
#帆手祭
#日本三大荒れ神輿