Autumn Festivals and Lives in Miyako, Yamada in Iwate: Sept 16-17, 2018

I made my regular visit to Iwate Prefecture. This time, I stayed in Miyako City and Yamada Town to see their autumn festivals as well as current situations.

I joined Miyako's festival in the evening of  Sept. 16.

Teams from local communities and groups of traditional paraded in the city.

A group of Minamikawame district (local community) performed Sansa-Odori dance. The members included many young people.

A carrier with a sail canvas moved around. 

A dram performance was played by a group of Yamaguchi-daiko (dram). Strong sounds spread around the streets. (See the 4th photo from the top)

another team performed a dance with big flags.

Local people as well as visitors enjoyed the festival.

I joined Yamada Town's festival the following day (Sept 17).

The portable shrines or mikoshi are carried from a shrine to another shrine in the festival. Boats are used to move them. Fish boats join the ceremony and compose a sea parade in the port. 

The mikoshi was just landed when I arrived at the port. (See also the top photo)

Various groups performed traditional arts in the town.

In addition to their regular plays, they hold special performances for specific people who make donations for them.

We asked a team of Daikagura to play a lion dance for us. (See also the 3rd photo) 

We also asked a team of Tiger Dance a performance. (See also the 2nd photo)

It was impressive that many young people joined the festivals, both as players and visitors, in Miyako and Yamada. I also felt strong ties of the people in the local communities.

It is often said that the festivals and traditional performing arts played important roles in the process of recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami disasters in March 2011. I reaffirmed the idea.

In addition to the festivals, I visited Taro district in Miyako City. It was my first visit in four years. Taro is famous for its huge seawalls, which were destroyed by the tsunami disasters in 2011.

Reconstructions have been advanced. New residential areas have been developed on the hills. 

New roads, shops, a baseball stadium and other facilities have been developed in the central parts of the district.

New seawalls are being constructed.

Still there remains a question on the future developments of the district. It is similar in most quake-hit areas in Tohoku.

I experienced a cruising in the Yamada Bay. There are many cultivation rafts of oysters and scallops in the bay

A raft is about 12x4 meter large. It takes two to three years to grow oysters. (See also the 5th photo)

The rafts were all washed away in 2011, when they had tsunami disasters. Now, they have about 2,000 rafts.

Hiraizumi, Iwate: Sept. 15, 2018

I  visited Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture, an old town with history of Tohoku district.

Tohoku was an outlying region of Japan for long time. The power of the central government sometimes reached there and sometimes retreated before the middle age.

In the late 11th century, Oushu Fujiwara family established a regime around Hiraizumi. A unique culture flourished here for about 100 years.

There were many episodes in the Fujiwara period. Minamoto Yoshitsune, one of Japan's most popular heroes, tragically died here. Sympathy for him has been shared by Japanese people for centuries. The Fujiwara family perished in  the late 12 century as the rule of the Kamakura shogunate government reached here.

Chuson-ji Temple was developed by Fujiwara Kiyohira, the first ruler of the dynasty’s 100-year triumph.

The temple is famous for its Konjikido, or golden hall (small building). It was made in 1124 by Fujiwara Kiyohira. The hall is 5.5 x 5.5 meters large and worships Buddha Tathagata and other forms of Buddha. The hall is covered with gold.

A larger building, in photo, was built later to cover the hall and to protect it from rains and winds. (See also the top photo). It was prohibited to take a picture of the golden hall. Visit the temple's HP to see Konjikido's photo.

http://www.chusonji.or.jp/guide/precincts/konjikido.html

There are many other temple buildings, including the main hall, in Chusnji.

I walked up a slope to approach the Golden hall and other buildings. (See also the 3rd photo from the top)

Fujiwara Kiyohira developed the temple to console the spirits of the people who were killed in the battles.

Motsuji Temple was redeveloped by Fujiwara Motohira, Kiyohira’s son, and Fujiwara Hidehira, Motohira’s son. Its garden is famous.

Minamoto Yoshitsune was under Fujiwara family’s protection. He was later attacked by the family, as it received strong pressure from the Kamakura government, and was forced to kill himself. His monument is on a hill.

We can see a good view of the region from there. (See the 2nd photo from the top)

Matsuo Basho, a famous haiku poet, visited here 500 years later and made a famous haiku.

The summer grass,

'Tis all thats left,

Of Ancient warriors' dream.

It was translated by Nitobe Inazo, a famous educator in the Meiji period.

Basho's monuments are in many places in the town. A statue in Chusonji-temple is one of them.

The site of administration offices of Fujiwara Family is now a park.

Chusonji, Motsuji and other places were registered as the World Heritages in 2011. Many tourists, including foreigners, visit here.

The audio guide was excellent. People can listen to the explanations of the places in 7 languages as they touch the numbers (or pictures) in the user guide with a pen. I found that the rental cycle system and other facilities were also well developed.