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Hiei’s shrines

April 30, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

An attractive Benzaiten shrine in the Saito compound of Hiei's Enryaku-ji

Mt Koya and Mt Hiei are the twin peaks of Japan’s esoteric Buddhism. Mt Koya houses the head temple of Shingon, and Mt Hiei that of the Tendai sect. Both complexes are much smaller now than they were in the past, and in the middle ages they counted amongst the greatest mountain temples in the world. Both are now World Heritage sites.

The Tenjin ox welcomes visitors on the way to Enryaku-ji's main building, the Konponchudo

Shingon and Tendai both acknowledge kami and take a combinatory approach. I recently posted an article on the shrines that were a part of Kukai’s original project on Koyasan. Today I visited Hieisan and took photos of some of the small shrines that stand amongst the large temple buildings.

It’s been a while since I was last up on the mountain, and as ever I was impressed by the huge scale and the sense of history that the area exudes. I was also heartened to see several monuments and noticeboards affirming commonality with China and Korea.

Hieisan’s main shrine of course is the atmospheric Hiyoshi Taisha, towards the bottom of the mountain on the Sakamoto side. Joseph Cali has written of it in Shinto Shrines, from which the following quotation is taken:

It’s said that in the eighth century, Saicho’s devoted Buddhist father prayed to the kami of Hiei for a son. When his prayers were answered, he built a small shrine at the foot of the mountain and dedicated it to the kami. His son came to the mountain to worship as a Buddhist priest and began to worship here before the new capital of Heian-kyo (Kyoto) was founded in 794.

The temple Saicho established (known as Enryaku-ji, was appointed protector of the new capital, partly because it guarded the north-east corner through which the devil was likely to slip. It meant that Hiyoshi Taisha as protector of the temple was given high imperial status, and in medieval times it had over 100 buildings (the temple on the other hand numbered in thousands).

My purpose on this occasion was not Hiyoshi Shrine, however, but a tour of the impressive temple buildings. In amongst the scattered halls (grouped into three main complexes) I came across several small shrines. One of them stands right on the way to the main building, the awe-inspiring Konponchudo, and is dedicated to Tenjin. As a seminary Enryaku-ji is scholastically oriented (its Lecture Hall is given prime importance), so I presume there’s a link in the educational role of Tenjin.

The demon seen by Gansan Daishi, now put on ofuda to be placed on door entrances to scare away evil

Amongst the other shrines I noticed was one to Inari and several to Benzaiten. The latter derives originally from India, and as a Hindu goddess she was embraced by early Buddhism, so perhaps it’s no surprise to find her well represented. I’m used to seeing her surrounded by water (as in the famous Benten pond at Todai-ji), but I couldn’t in these cases find any evidence of a pond. So why were the monks so keen on cultivating her, I wondered…

It was one of several questions I wanted to discuss, but on this occasion I didn’t get a chance. I did however get to talk to an apprentice, who told me an interesting tale about the altar mirror at the temple to which he was attached. Shaped like a Shinto mirror, it was associated with a monk called Gansan Daishi who lived at a time when the plague was prevalent.

When he looked into the mirror, Ganshin saw a demon there and his companions managed to ‘capture the reflection’ by drawing its image. When the picture was put on the front door of houses, it turned out to have a miraculous protective power against the plague. The demon was thus able to serve as a valuable assistant to the work of the monks. It’s a reminder of how Japanese demons (oni) should not be ‘demonised’ – the ascetic En no Gyoja, for instance, was served by two ‘demon’ assistants. It also says something about the curious nature of mirrors – though quite what is something on which I’ll have to reflect!

A painting of Gansan Daishi looking in the mirror and seeing a demon

A shrine to Benzaiten in the Yokowa area of Enryaku-ji. This one did have a pond, full of irises.

Inari Shrine in the woods... living close to nature, the Enryaku-ji monks have a fine sense of the spirit of place.

Another Benzaiten shrine, this one opening onto the slopes where the Buddhist monks practise their austerity rites

Death and No-thing-ness

April 27, 2013 / John D. / 1 Comment

Death is often cited as a prime reason why people turn to religion. The consolation of an afterlife is attractive to many, and fear of rotting or burning in hell haunts others.

Grave of Izumo no Okuni, founder of Kabuki and once miko at Izumo Taisha, now part of an amorphous kami-hood.

Shinto is pretty relaxed about the afterlife because we all become kami. There’s no good or bad, and no one to judge us. Even Class A war criminals get to be kami.

Generally speaking, ancestral spirits retain their individuality for two or three generations in the minds of their descendants, before merging into some undefined pool of common ancestry. Perhaps it represents the lifeforce, for ancestral spirits also turn into forces of nature – a shamaness became Amaterasu, spirit of the sun; Sugiwara no Michizane became Tenjin, spirit of the sky. Kamo Wake-ikazuchi, grandson of the Kamo clan founder, died as a child and apotheosised as a thunder deity.

My Irish friend and I were speculating the other day about the curious way atoms mysteriously come together to form us in miraculous fashion before dispersing as our bodies decay after death. Perhaps there’s a sense of that in the Shinto notion of ancestral spirits turning into forces of nature.

Alan Watts, however, in his latest broadcast has another take on the matter. (For his biweekly podcast, click here.) It’s all to do with nothingness. Or rather No Thing-ness.

The non-guru Alan Watts, now enjoying no-thing-ness (courtesy stageview.com)

Life is like a star shining out of the black hole of space, he says. And what we don’t realise is that space is more fundamental than the star. We never consider the matter, because it’s like trying to look at your own head – you can’t see it. And yet the head is that out of which we see in exactly the same way that the blackness is that out of which the star shines. So in similar manner nothingness is the substance that sustains human existence.

So what’s it going to be like after we die? It’s going to be as if we had never existed at all. Or as if nothing had ever existed at all. There never was anything, and there’s no one to regret it. It will all just stop. Yet you can’t have a stop without a start. But there was no start. There’s just no thing. And when you come to think of it, says Watts, that’s exactly the way it was before you were born.

Belief in no thing is not for Watts a declaration of atheism, but one of profound trust. Images of God are simply demonstrations of a lack of faith, something to hold onto, something to grasp. But letting go is a matter of trust. Letting go of idols is another way to relate to the ineffable mystery that is life and no thing-ness. And when you do so, you find that the universe is you.

Look deep in the mirror and what do you see…

The circular Shinto mirror that ends where it begins

Izumo 60 year cycle

April 27, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

A reader has written in with photos and to say that the finishing touches are being done for Izumo’s 60 year cycle of rebuiliding (shikinen sengu). A previous posting detailed the very impressive month-long programme of events (see here). Below are pictures of the latest situation…

A brand new rice rope for the newly constructed buildings. The Izumo shimenawa is known for its peculiarly thick style.

Hoisting the shimenawa into place. It's a marker of sacred space, and is believed to ward against evil spirits. The shimenawa at Izumo's Kaguraden is allegedly the biggest in the world.

Mysterious light on one of the newly constructed Izumo buildings - sign of the kami's blessings?

Yasukuni

April 27, 2013 / John D. / 5 Comments

A delegation of 168 lawmakers, mostly right-wing, visit Yasukun this week (Kyodo)

With the return of self-avowed nationalists to power in the Abe-led LDP government, Yasukuni has once again become a political football to be kicked with gleeful relish into the faces of those who suffered Japan’s war crimes in WW2. Rather than seek reconciliation with former enemies, the polticians choose to visit a shrine that acted in secret to enshrine Class A war criminals. Even the emperor was opposed. The deliberate provocations are simply designed to further reassertion of national prestige and military muscle.

That Yasukuni is a place where ordinary people go to pay respects to the spirits of those who died in the war cannot be denied. That it is also a place for political posturing by right-wing politicians also cannot be denied. The two top Shinto researchers who have spent a lengthy time researching the issue – John Nelson and John Breen – are both agreed that the shrine has been made into a political rather than a purely religious issue. Former governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, called politicians who do not visit Yasukuni ‘not Japanese’. It’s a loathsome comment by a loathsome nationalist.

The war-glorifying Yashukan museum, an integral part of the Yasukuni shrine, is a physical representation of where its sentiments lie – with the militarists who drove Japan into death, destruction and defeat in WW2. Nowhere is compassion shown for the millions of victims. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Monday that the Yasukuni issue is connected to whether Japan has faced up to its history of militarist aggression and whether it can respect the feelings of the countries it attacked. He’s right.

‘As a museum operated by the Yasukuni Shrine, its exhibits stir up militarism and glorify it. There’s something strange about the prime minister going to worship there.’ Who said that? A Chinese politician? Someone who hates Japan? Someone who doesn’t understand Shinto? No. It was Tsuneo Watanabe, chairman of the Yomiuri Shimbun group, in an interview with Nikkan Gendai in Feb 2006.

Yasukuni is simply political poison.

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Leafy Yasukuni shrine stirs raw emotions
By Hiroshi Hiyama Japan Today APR. 27, 2013

For Japan’s neighbors the leafy Yasukuni shrine is a brutal reminder of Tokyo’s imperialist past and wartime aggression, but for many ordinary Japanese it is merely a place to worship ancestors who died fighting for their country.

The controversial war memorial is a flashpoint in a bitter dispute between Japan and its Asian neighbors, particularly China and South Korea.

The long-simmering issue made international headlines this week when nearly 170 Japanese lawmakers made a pilgrimage there to mark a spring festival, angering Beijing and Seoul and sparking diplomatic protests.

Critics of the shrine point to the inclusion of the names of 14 war criminals among the 2.5 million honored at the wooden temple, while the nationalistic museum on the site also draws fire.

For many, however, walking down Yasukuni’s stone paths lined with cherry trees and past imposing gates dedicated to Shinto—an animist religion with elements of Japanese history—is part of a ritual far removed from politics.

Hideo Chikuni choked back tears as he explained that he had traveled more than 200 kilometers to honor his brother, a Japanese soldier who died during World War II.

“If you have lost family members, you would understand,” he told AFP as a light rain fell.

“Japanese politicians visiting the shrine seem to cause all this controversy… but I don’t think other countries have any business in this.

“People who are enshrined here suffered and died for the nation. They fought to protect Japan. And it is thanks to them that we live in a prosperous time today. We cannot forget that.”

Yasukuni was originally built in 1869 to honor those who gave their lives for Japan and contains the names of soldiers who have fallen in armed conflicts including World War II.

But it also honors 14 men convicted of war crimes by a U.S.-led tribunal after Japan’s 1945 surrender, including General Hideki Tojo, the prime minister who authorised the attack on Pearl Harbor which drew the U.S. into the war.

For foreign critics, the shrine is a stark reminder of Tokyo’s brutal occupation of the Korean peninsula and imperialist expansion leading up to World War II.

Even at home there is significant opposition to Yasukuni, including among some relatives of those honored there, who say it glorifies war and the darker chapters in Japan’s history.

The site is presided over by Shinto priests and a ritual prayer that sees visitors clap and bow as they call on the spirits of ancestors adds a religious element, further complicating the site’s reputation. Discussions about moving the memorial to a more secular location have gone nowhere.

Conservative Japanese lawmakers still routinely visit to pay their respects and underscore their ideological views, while liberal politicians tend to stay away.

Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi prayed there once a year during his 2001-2006 tenure, enraging China and South Korea, but subsequent leaders have remained absent, including current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Still, Abe has staunchly defended his colleagues’ right to visit the site, and paid for equipment, bearing his name and title, which was used to decorate an altar.

In response, China has insisted that “no matter in what capacity or form Japanese leaders visit Yasukuni, in essence it is an attempt to deny Japan’s history of aggression through militarism”.

South Korea on Thursday summoned Japan’s ambassador to lodge a strong protest over the lawmakers’ visit, and President Park Geun-Hye has warned Tokyo against shifting to the right and aggravating historical grudges.

“If Japan has a different perception of history and aggravates the scars of the past, it will be difficult to build future-oriented ties,” she said this week.

Yuji Miyata, whose uncle is enshrined at Yasukuni, said he understands why the high-profile visits are a troubling reminder of the past for some, including a Chinese man who unsuccessfully tried to burn it down in 2011.

But Miyata, a 48-year-old businessman, said most of the shrine’s five million annual visitors come to honor fallen ancestors and pray for peace.

“I can understand why foreign politicians are critical,” he said. “They may see this in the context of the Japanese empire invading other countries. But for us, the general public, we don’t think about those things when we come here, we just pray for our relatives who died.”

Earth Day

April 22, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

Coming together on Earth Day (courtesy mobilecommons)

Earth Day is an annual day on April 22 to heighten awareness of the need for environmental protection. The April 22 date was adopted by the United Nations in 2009 and is celebrated in more than 192 countries. The concept was first put forward by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. It was later sanctioned in a Proclamation signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations.

It’s a day when all of humankind can come together in celebration and concern for this remarkable ‘little rock’ on which we are hurtling through space. It’s a weird thought, as Alan Watts, put it, to think of ourselves rotating around the sun on a planet so green and blue. And the more one thinks about it, the more one feels inclined to offer gratitude for the wonder of existence.

The eco-system that sustains us is delicate and fragile. It behooves all of us to treat it with care and not to take it for granted. The predations of modern consumerism need to be regulated and converted into sustainable lifestyles that are not based on selfishness, shortsightedness and greed. Earth Day is a reminder to us of our responsibilities to the future. Let’s strive to treat our Mother Earth better from this day on!

Human life depends on this; Make every day an Earth Day (courtesy trunks1z)

Harmony of human and nature

Reverence and gratitude for the blessings of nature

Kumano hiking

April 20, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

There are areas of Japan with a numinous quality, where the veil between this world and the sacred is at its thinnest. One is Izumo; another is Kumano. On opposite sides of Honshu, the two regions are nonetheless linked in a mysterious way and both lay claim to being the site of Yomi, where Izanami was buried.

Pilgrims along the Kumano Kodo

If Ise represents light and sunshine, Izumo and Kumano are the lands of darkness. Ise is imperial-oriented, heavily subsidised by Jinja Honcho, and allied with the ruling élite. Izumo and Kumano are are characterised by myth, folklore and tradition. They offer an alternative to the Meiji-imposed mainstream, as suggested by the reference to the rebel Kumagusu in the article below.

For Green Shinto, Kumano and Izumo epitomise grass-roots spirituality and the religion of the common folk. If the emperor system had been abolished at the end of WW2, as most of the world wished, Ise would have suffered a loss of prestige but the vital flow of age-old beliefs would have continued unhampered in the two ancient realms.

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SIMON BARTZ in the Japan Times [The below is an edited excerpt of the first of two parts.]

“Once you cross Tonda River, you’re entering the Land of the Dead,” says Brad, a tousle-haired, bespectacled, Japan-loving walking encyclopedia from Canada and also our chief guide on this venture into Kumano — the spiritual heartland of Japan, located on the Kii Peninsula, Wakayama Prefecture.

Land of the Dead? Mordor-like or Mordor-lite? I’m decidedly not scared at this point, but . . . that’s down to naivety. I will almost die, and fall in love in the process.

Me, Brad, a few of his colleagues, and a squad of all-male, all-gaijin (Western) journalists are standing beside the Takijiri-oji Shrine, which most hikers use as a starting point to trek through Kumano, and Brad is spinning a mythical tale, which goes something like this: The female creator deity Izanami died giving birth to the fire deity, so she went to Kumano, the Land of the Dead. Her hubbie, Izanagi, the male creator deity, sought her out. But after seeing her corpse, he was naturally upset and fled the Land of the Dead and jumped into the Tonda River, which runs in the valley below. There he did the misogi (purification ritual) and when he washed his body deities were born. And life, the universe and everything moved on . . .

Yamabushi blowing his horn in Kumano

This is just one of many myths; Kumano has thousands of years of complex religious beliefs involving Shintoism, Buddhism and other obscure belief systems (this place also attracts yamabushi [mountain ascetics], who dangle off cliffs and sit naked under freezing waterfalls).

“The important thing to remember is that Kumano is open to everyone,” says Brad. “This place goes to the core of spirituality rather than holding fast to any specific doctrine.”

As our bus winds up and down through the cedar- and cypress-clad mountains, Brad, a crucial cog in the Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau, says, “This reminds me of Nepal. You climb up and down mountains and then enter a river-valley community where you find lodgings for the night and then continue hiking the next day. That’s the general idea when you visit this area.”

Looking out at the mountains, I get my first “hit” of what this is all about. It feels good. Another guide, Akagi-san, (clad in a traditional yamabushi costume, and fondly nicknamed “Bakagi-san,” blows his horagai (conch trumpet), which is used to attract the attention of the deities and also to communicate.

Nachi's syncretic mix of Buddhism and animism

Pilgrims — from emperors to peasants — have endured a 40-day return hike to Kumano from the ancient capital of Kyoto for thousands of years. Their goal: to visit the Kumano Sanzan, or the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano — Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Nachi Taisha and Kumano Hayatama Taisha.

They would follow a network of routes called the Kumano Kodo, with the most common being the trail following the coast to the town of Tanabe and then turning east on the Nakahechi Route that cuts through the mountains. Brad says that tomorrow we will hike along part of that route — moving through the Land of the Dead.

Next we stop to drink water from the Nonka No Shimizu spring and gaze in awe at the huge Ipposugi cedar tree, with all of its branches pointing south. “That’s because there’s a lot of spiritual power in that direction,” says Brad. [South was associated with Kannon, and as Kumano was the southernmost area of Honshu, the citizens of Kyoto viewed it as sacred land.]

Ipposugi is one of many trees that were saved by the avant-garde environmentalist Minakata Kumagusu. The microbiologist with a fondness for folklore would scamper naked in the woods and then return to a village and tell people that a tengu (long-nosed goblin) had led him to a new species of fungi. He was a fierce opponent of the Meiji Restoration authorities who, in their effort to split Buddhism and Shintoism, were intent on destroying many of the holy areas that fuse the beliefs in Kumano. Kumagusu even got jailed for his dedication to the rebel cause, but in his cell the gods shined upon him, and he found yet another new species of slime mold growing on the wall.

Brad says: “When the government inspectors arrived to check the area to see what had to be destroyed, Kumagusu would be a kind of ‘guerrilla’ guide: One of his famous tricks was to take them to a local inn and get them hopelessly drunk so they’d just pass out and then return to the city with a hangover the next day without destroying anything.”

When I take in the magnitude of silence and peace in this lush valley, I realize this is the “land of living,” and that Tokyo, where I live, is the “land of the dead.” Rather an array of trees than an army of sad-faced salarymen. I get my second “hit,” and it’s a big one.

Torii marking the original site of Kumano Hongu, end point for pilgrimages and now candidate for Japan's largest torii (33.9 meters tall and 42 meters wide)

Izumo celebrates (May/June)

April 18, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

Izumo Taisha, soon to celebrate the completion of its 60-year cycle of renewal (courtesy Connect Shimane)

By now most people have heard of the Ise celebrations this year for the completion of its 20 year shikinen sengu cycle of renewal. The buildings will have been reconstructed, the furnishings remade, and the long series of festivals involved in the process will peak in October with the removal of the sacred mirror of Amaterasu behind a veil of protective cloth to its new housing.

Prior to the Ise celebrations, however, are those of Izumo which take place on a 60 year cycle. It means 2013 is literally a once in a lifetime concurrence of the two major renewals. David Jones, a “Shimane Kentohshi Ambassador for Tourism”, has contacted Green Shinto about his Connect Shimane blog site, which carries useful information about the series of events lined up to celebrate the completion of Izumo’s shikinen sengu, and it’s a hugely impressive programme – it really does seem a once in a lifetime occasion. There is a full listing in Japanese at this link, but for a quck overview I’ve included the activities in English below.

Incidentally, anyone with a few spare moments may like to look at the Connect Shimane website and the impressive slide show with accompanying music. It’s an upliftingly beautiful, almost spiritual, series of photographs. Click on the music button on this link, then sit back and soak in the atmosphere of one of Japan’s most folkloric areas. http://www.connect-shimane.com/

Suzumidono Matsuri (courtesy Connect Shimane)

Schedule of celebrations

May 10th (Fri)
*Honden Senza-sai (Priests relocates Ohkuninushi’s spirit back to the newly renovated Honden, the main sanctuary building)

11th (Sat)
*Honden Senza Housei-sai (The Emperor’s messenger visits the Honden and presents the Emperor’s offering)

12th (Sun)
Gagaku (Imperial Court music and dance, by Kasuga group from Nara)
Izumo kagura

13th (Mon)
*Rei-sai Zenya-sai (Reisai-Eve ritual)
Izumo kagura
Nihon Buyo (Japanese dance) by top Japanese Hanayagi male dancers (Juraku Hanayagi and Noriyuki Hanayagi)
Iwami kagura

14th (Tue)
*Tekisha-sai (archery)
*Rei-sai (Izumo Taisha’s most important annual festival. The Emperor’s messenger visit Honden and present the Emperor’s offering)
Izumo kagura
Joint concert by Hohzan Yamamoto (National Treasure Shakuhachi player) and internationally-know guitarist Hideshi Takatani
Ryukyu-mai dance (Okinawa traditional dance) by Okinawa dancers

Horseback archery on May 26th (courtesy Connect Shimane)

15th (Wed)
*Rei-sai Ni-no-matsuri (extended Rei-sai)
*Mikoshi Gyo-sai (carriage baring Ohkuninushi’s minor spirits will carried around Taisha Town)
Kemari (imperial court ball game) by Konpira-gu Kemari group, Kagawa Prefecture
Yakumo-goto (2 string chin), by Yakumo-goto group, Ehime Prefecture
Izumo Kagura

16th (Thu)
Reisai San-no-matsuri (extended Rei-sai)
*Izumo Yashiki Kansha Daisai (local warshipper’s thanks-giving to Ohkuninuchi)
Izumo Kagura

17th (Fri)
Izumo Kagura
Iwami Kagura

18th (Sat)
*Okagura-sai (the end of Rei-sai festivals)
Iwami Kagura
Johmon Daiko (drum) concert by Gohshin Moro, a bongo drummer
Kagura drama ‘Susano-o’ by Izumo Taisha branch from Hiroshima Prefecture

19th (Mon)
Iwami Netsuke exhibition, exhibition of Takamado-no-miya Collection (Mikasanomiya branch of the Imperial family)Kitcho ritual (a group of masked men walk around Taisha Town beating the ground with bamboo sticks for good luck)
Renge-e-mai dance from Kokubunji Temple, Oki Islands (This dance is said to be danced only in Oki, outside the Imperial Palace).
Taue-mai (300 year-old rice seedling planting dance) by a group from Fukushima Prefecture
Ohura Kagura, from Iwate Prefecture
Iwami Kagura

20th (Tue)
Acoustic Concert by the artists born in Shimane
Brass Ensemble by Kohichi Inoue, Junichi Yoshikawa etc

21st (Tue)
Tsugaru Kagura by Izumo Taisha branch in Aomori Prefecture
Izumo Kagura

22nd (Wed)
Izumo Kagura
Iwami Kagura

23rd (Thu)
Iwami Kagura

A group of masked men walk around town beating the ground with sticks in an event known as Kitchou-sai on May 19 (courtesy Connect Shimane)

24th (Fri)
Iwami Kagura
Izumo Kagura
‘Creation of Izumo Taisha’ story narrated by Atsuko Asano, A famous actress having close association with Izumo myths

25th (Sat)
Oki Kagura
Houin Kagura, 400-year old kagura from Miyagi Prefecture, kagura created mainly by mountain ascetics
Mai-hyashi, Shimai (type of Noh dance) by Izumo Taisha branch from Kohchi Prefecture

26th (Sun)
Izumo Kagura
Tea ceremony by the master of the Sansai School of Tea Ceremony, Izumo City
Noh by Ujin Sakurama, a Living National Treasure, and Kyogen by Mansai Nomura, talented Kyogen dancer and actor.
‘Heisei Grand Sengu’ series were written specially for the occasion, and ‘Sengu’ is performed this time.
Horse-back archery ritual

27th (Mon)
Iwami Kagura
Horse-back archery, Ogasawara-ryu school of archery from the Kamakura period (AD 1185-1333)
Japanese dance by Sakon Murayama
Lectures on ‘Ohkuninushi’ by Prof. Suzuka, Tohjuurou Sawamura etc
Live performance by comedians born in Shimane

28th (Tue)
Sumo Grand Champion Harumafuji ceremonial ritual display.
Harumafuji (29 year-old Mongolian, 70th Grand Champion) – ritual
Anminishiki (35 year-old, highest ranking Sekiwake, from Aomori Prefecture) – Sword-bearer
Okino-umi (28 year-old, highest ranking Maegashira, local favourite from Oki Island) – Tsuyuharai (attending wrestler)
36th Shohnosuke (Highest ranking referee, the name is inherited) – Referee

Iwami Kagura
Gagaku by Ono Gagaku Group, Tokyo

29th (Wed)
Iwami Kagura
Unryu and Myu joint concert (Unryu is a flutest, Myu is a ‘healing singer’)

30th (Thu)
Iwami Kagura
Izumo Kagura

31st (Fri)
Oku-izumo Kagura
Izumo Kagura
Hideki Tougi Concert (Gagaku player by training/multi instruments player/actor) with: –
Madoka Sugai, multi award-winner ballet dancer (currently at Das Bundesjugendballett, Hamburg)
French artist Markestel (Mark Squarchiafichi)’s paintings of Kojiki, projected on screen at the same time

Suzumidono Matsuri: description below (courtesy Connect Shimane)

June 1st (Sat)
*Suzumidono-matsuri (Izumo Taisha’s annual ritual, the head priest walks over a path scattered with new sand and Makomo (marginal plant, Zizania latifolia). The iris-like leaf is said to bring healthy life and good harvests when taken home afterwards.
Iwami Kagura
Izumo Kagura

2nd (Sun)
Izumo-no-kuni Shinbutsu Reijyo (Shinto shrines and Buddhism temples in Izumo Region) joint prayers for world peace
Izumo Kagura
Iwami Kagura
Matsue Dou Gyoretsu (large drum procession)

3rd (Mon)
Iwami Kagura
Special Concert by Masayoshi Yamazaki (musician/singer-songwriter/actor) and Chitose Moto (Okinawa folk song singer)

4th (Tue)
Iwami Kagura
Azumi Inoue Family Concert, by a well-known singer (sung the theme song of the animation ‘Totoro’)

5th (Wed)
Iwami Kagura
Eitetsu Hayashi Drum Concert (Japanese drums)

6th (Thu)
Yasugi-bushi folk song and most famous comical dance associated with the song from Yasugi City, ‘Dojou-sukui’ (mini eel catcher). Of course they do not use eels on stage!
Iwami Kagura

Dojou-sukui, the mini-eel catchers (courtesy of Connect Shimane)

7th (Fri)
Iwami Kagura
Megumi Abiko Concert (Japanese guitar player using Tsugaru/Okinawa shamisen-guitars and western guitars)
Hiromi Yamaguchi Concert (Japanese Enka singer)

8th (Sat)
Izumo Kagura
‘Invitation to Japanese Myths’ narrated by Maki Mizuno, Japanese acress

9th (Sun)
Izumo Kagura
Iwami Kagura