[Kyoto Aoi Matsuri] ~An Elegant Dynastic Scroll~

May, with its fragrant breeze.
The entire city is enveloped in dazzling fresh greenery,
and the Aoi Matsuri has been held in Kyoto.
The Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival) is counted as one of Kyoto's three major festivals.
Known in ancient times as the 'Kamo Festival' or the 'Northern Festival',
it is a prestigious ritual that has woven a history of 1,500 years.

Its origins are ancient,
and it is said that as early as the reign of Emperor Kinmei (540-571) in the late Kofun period,
people would hang bells on horses and have them run to appease the wrath of the Kamo deities,
praying for a bountiful harvest.

Among the court nobles of the mid-Heian period,
it was so famous that simply saying 'the festival' referred to the Aoi Matsuri,
and an intriguing scene of the Aoi Matsuri even appears in Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (the 'Carriage Dispute' in the ninth chapter, 'Aoi').

Since the Heian period, the Aoi Matsuri has been positioned as a national event.
Among the many festivals in Japan, the Aoi Matsuri, which preserves the rare traditions of dynastic customs,
vividly to this day, is truly worthy of high praise.

The Kamo Festival came to be called the 'Aoi Matsuri'
after the festival was revived in the Genroku era (1691) of the Edo period.
Everything from the blinds of the palace halls,
to the court attire of the imperial messengers and attendants, to the ox-drawn carriages and horses,
was decorated with the leaves of the Futaba Aoi (wild ginger), the crest of both the Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines,
intertwined with or inserted into twigs of katsura.

Now, the highlight of the Aoi Matsuri
is, above all, the 'Roto no Gi' (procession).
As in every year, today, May 15th, at 10:30 AM—
the starting point is in front of the Kenreimon Gate of the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
The procession, consisting of the 'Main Column' centered on the imperial messenger and the 'Saio-dai Column',
is a large-scale group of over 500 people dressed in Heian-period court attire,
along with 36 horses, 4 oxen, 2 ox-drawn carriages, and 1 palanquin.

From the Kyoto Imperial Palace to Shimogamo Shrine, and from Shimogamo Shrine to Kamigamo Shrine,
they proceed slowly over a total distance of about 8 km.
While gazing at the distant peaks of the Higashiyama and Kitayama mountains,
it is truly an elegant dynastic scroll come to life.

If you were to be present at this location,
you would be unable to escape the illusion that you had fallen into a rift in space-time and traveled back to the distant past.

Beyond the wonderful sense of color,
composed of the pale, natural tones of the various costumes,
everyone will surely be able to experience a real, moving sensation
that could never be imagined from history textbooks, museum exhibits, or tourist guide photos alone.

Various preliminary rituals leading up to the Aoi Matsuri include:
the Kurabe-uma Ashita-shiki on May 1st, the Yabusame Shinji on May 3rd, the Busha Shinji on May 5th,
the Mikage Matsuri on May 12th, and so on.
Among them, the 'Saio-dai Nyonin Retsugyokei Shinji' (Purification Ritual) on May 4th is particularly popular.

Led by the sounds of gagaku music, the Saiodai (proxy for the Sai-o) dips her hands into the 'Mitarashi-ike' pond (at Shimogamo Shrine) or the 'Nara-no-ogawa' stream (at Kamigamo Shrine) to purify herself, followed by the other women in the procession who perform a solemn ritual to cleanse their sins and impurities using katashiro (paper dolls)...

In truth, they are pure maidens who were never impure to begin with.
If it were not for their roles in this virtual space,
I wonder what else there could possibly be to purify.

This Misogi Shinji (purification ritual) is held at both Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines,
alternating every year.
This year, in the 6th year of Reiwa, it was held at Shimogamo Shrine.

Incidentally, a 'Sai-o' was an unmarried imperial woman (imperial princess) sent from the Imperial Court to serve as a shrine maiden at the Kamo Shrines.
Although the Sai-o system was abolished with the passage of time,
today, the 'Saiodai'—meaning 'proxy for the Sai-o'—
has come to fulfill the role in the Aoi Matsuri.

Every year in April, the daughters of families with ties to Kyoto—such as temples, shrines, cultural figures, and business leaders—are selected through recommendations and other means.
Of course, the costume worn by the Saiodai is
a dazzling junihitoe (twelve-layered ceremonial kimono).

The itsutsuginu-motsukarakinu (layered robes), the white makeup, and the ohaguro (blackened teeth) are all indescribably beautiful!
How fortunate are those
who have been able to see her in person.

The Aoi Matsuri is a festival with which I, too, have a connection...
It is a rare and mystical festival that possesses both an ancient, time-honored quality and a sense of newness.
I humbly ask for your continued support of the Aoi Matsuri, which has carried on Japan's precious traditional culture while marking a grand history spanning 1,500 years.

May 15, Reiwa 6, Kenreimon Aoi

🔶Since we are on the subject, I would like to introduce four songs that represent Kyoto.🔶
　  And while I'm at it, one more song about traveling......

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀
♬BGM Track 1: 'Kyoto Bojo' / Yuko Nagisa
♬BGM Track 2: 'Kamo no Nagare ni' / Kaguyahime
♬BGM Track 3: 'Kyoto no Koi' / Yuko Nagisa
♬BGM Track 4: 'Onna Hitori' / Duke Aces
♬BGM Track 5: 'Ooinaru Tabiji' / Kei Ogura
❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

♬Kyoto Bojo - Yuko Nagisa

♬Kamo no Nagare ni - Kaguyahime

♬Kyoto no Koi - Yuko Nagisa

♬Onna Hitori - Duke Aces

♬Ooinaru Tabiji - Kei Ogura

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