温泉夏祭りその3:下駄供養から御神体担ぎまで Onsen Summer Festival 3: From Geta Offering to Omikoshi Carrying

July 16, 2011: 温泉タウン戸倉上山田 Onsen Town Togura-Kamiyamada

上山田温泉の夏祭りの最初の日は何回も着替えながら、次から次へ飛んで回り。

朝は布団上げ、お会計と見送り@亀清旅館 (作務衣)
水天宮のお祈り@水と緑と潤いのある公園 (ワイシャツにお神輿の法被)
ついでに下駄供養@同じ公園 (ワイシャツに戸倉上山田の緑色の法被)
お神輿の魂入れ (お神輿法被に着替えなおす)
近所の11区のお神輿担ぎ (私物の青い色の祭り法被)
上山田お神楽保存会と獅子舞巡り (お神楽の格好)
祭り若連の皆とご神体神輿 (白い短パンにお神輿の法被)

6回も着替えながら、長い一日でした。

アメリカで複数の役=「複数の帽子をかぶる」と言います。日本の場合、複数の法被を着るって事ですね。

ちなみに、水天宮で行った神事の中で、今年は特別な祈りがありました。本来なら、水天宮の神事は2つな微妙な部分がある: 
生活や農業などに水が必要な一方、水の感謝するけど、
川が暴れて被災発生するもう一方で、水から守るとの祈りも。
3.11の津波で、「水から守る」との部分は特に大切に感じました。

この夏祭りでかける汗は東北の被災者の皆様への応援も入っています。

The first day of Kamiyamada Onsen's summer festival is always a bit hectic, including way too many changes of clothing.

This is how my day went:

Futon flipping and checking the guests out (wearing a 'samue' work outfit)
Water God ceremony at our town's main park (Omikoshi happi coat over dress clothes)
Geta sandal offering at the same park (Green innkeepers happi coat over dress clothes)
Omikoshi blessing (back to the Omikoshi happi coat)
Carrying our neighborhood's Omikoshi (my personal blue 'matsuri' happi coat)
The Okagura lion dance troupe procession (okagura garb)
The main festival omikoshi (white shorts and Omikoshi happi coat)

6 clothing changes made for a long, long day!

In the States, there's a saying about wearing multiple hats when doing more than one activity. In Japan, it should be wearing multiple happi coats!

By the way, this year's Water God ceremony had special importance. The ceremony always walks a fine line between thanking the god for supplying life-giving water, and praying from protection from that same water's destructive flooding potential. This year, the latter was especially pertinent in the aftermath of the 3.11 tsunami.

It is my hope that the sweat from this weekend's matsuri will also be for the betterment of the people that suffered in the 3.11 triple disasters.





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