Aoi Matsuri

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The Aoi Matsuri (葵祭^?), or "Hollyhock Festival," is one of the three main annual festivals held in Kyoto, Japan. It is a festival of the two Kamo shrines in the north of the city, Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine. The festival may also be referred to as the Kamo Festival.

[edit] History

According to the ancient historical record known as the Nihon Shoki, the festival originated during the reign of Emperor Kinmei (r. A.D. 539, 12th month, 5th day - 571, 4th month, 15th day). The ancient records known as the Honchō getsurei (本朝月令) and Nenchūgyōji hissho (年中行事秘抄) reveal that a succession of disastrous rain and wind had ruined the grain crops, and epidemics had spread through the country. Because diviners placed the cause as owing to the divine punishment of the Kamo deities, the emperor sent his messenger with a retinue to the shrine to conduct various acts to appease the deities, in prayer for a bountiful harvest. These included riding a galloping horse.^[1]

This became an annual ritual, and the galloping horse performance developed into an equestrian archery performance. According to the historical record known as the Zoku Nihongi (続日本記）, so many people had come to view this equestrian performance on the festival day in the 2nd year of the reign of Emperor Mommu (r. 697-707) that the event was banned.^[2]

In the ninth century, Emperor Kanmu established the seat of the imperial throne in Kyoto. This represented the beginning of the Heian Period in Japanese history. Emperor Kanmu recognized the deities of the Kamo shrines as protectors of the Heian capital, and established the Aoi Matsuri as an annual imperial event (Aoi, 2007).

The festival has been called Aoi festival for the hollyhock leaves used as decoration throughout the celebration. These leaves were once believed to protect against natural disasters (Frang, 2002).

[edit] Festival events

There are two parts to Aoi Matsuri: the procession and the shrine rites (Frang, 2002). The procession is the lead by the Imperial Messenger. Following the imperial messenger are: two oxcarts, four cows, thirty-six horses, and six hundred people (Frang, 2002). All of which are dressed in traditional Heian period costumes decorated with aoi leaves (Frang, 2002). The procession starts at 10:30 of May 15 and leaves the Kyoto Imperial Palace and slowly works its way towards the Shimogamo shrine and finally the Kamigamo shrine (Shively, 1999). When they finally arrive at both shrines, the Saio-Dai and Imperial Messenger would perform their rituals. The Saio-Dai would simply pay her respects to the deities and the Imperial Messenger would intone the imperial rescript praising the deities and requesting their continued favor (Shively, 1999).

There are two main figures of Aoi Matsuri: the Saio-dai and the Imperial Messenger (Aoi, 2006). The Saio-Dai is a woman who is chosen from the sisters and daughters of the emperor to dedicate herself to the Shimogamo shrine. The role of Saio-Dai was to maintain ritual purity and to represent the Emperor at the festival. Now, the role of the Saio-Dai is played by an unmarried woman in Kyoto (Aoi, 2009). She would be dressed in the traditional style of the Heian court. Traditional Heian court dress for women would be wearing several layers of exquisitely colored silk robes (Layered, 1995). The Saio-Dai wears twelve layers of the traditional style robes (Shimogamo, 2009). To maintain ritual purity, the Saio-Dai goes through several ceremonies of purification before the procession of the festival. The Imperial Messenger leads the festival procession on horseback (Aoi, 2009). During the Heian period he would be a Fith-Rank courtier holding the office of middle or lesser captain and was usually a man destined for high office (Shively, 1999). His role was to read the imperial rescript of the shrines and present the emperor’s offerings (Shively, 1999). During the Heian period, the Saio-Dai and the Imperial messenger would be accompanied by ten dancers and twelve musicians (Shively, 1999).

===References===

Works Cited

Aoi Matsuri (2004), City.Kyoto.Jp. Retrieved from website on 20 Jan 2009: http://www.city.kyoto.jp/koho/eng/festivals/aoi.html

Aoi Matsuri. (2006). Raku.city.kyoto.jp. Retrieved from website on 20 Jan 2009: http://raku.city.kyoto.jp/backnum/may06_e/aoi06_e.html

Aoi Matsuri. (2009). Jnto.go.jp. Retrieved from website on 20 Jan 2009: http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/history/traditionalevents/a24_fes_aoi.html

Aoi Matsuri Festival. (2007). KyotoGuide.com. Retrieved from website on 20 Jan 2009: http://www.kyotoguide.com/ver2/thismonth/aoimatsuri.html

Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival). (2009). Asianrooms.com. Retrieved from website on 20 January 2009: http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/japan/kyoto/kyoto-festivals-&- events/aoi-matsuri-(hollyhock-festival).html

Friang, M. (2002, May). Rites of Heritage. World & I. May2002, Vol. 17 Issue 5, p176, 8p, 4 color. Retrieved from MAS Ultra – School Edition database on 21 January 2009.

The Layered Look. (1995, March/April). Civilization Mar/Apr 1995. Vol. 2 Issue 2, p22, ¼p, 1 color. Retrieved from Academic Search Premiere database on 20 January 2009.

Shimogamo Jinja. (2009). Shimogamo-jinja.or.jp. Retrieved from website on 21 Jan 2009: http://www.shimogamo-jinja.or.jp/english/index.html

Shively, D., Hall, J., McCullough, W. (1999). The Cambridge History of Japan. Retrieved from Google Book Search on 20 Jan 2009: http://books.google.com/books?id=eiTWWfoyuyAC&pg=RA1-PA181&lpg=RA1- PA181&dq=kamo+festival&source=web&ots=POjptOibHT&sig=d4PF72Jzd7EusHIHz D7sjTM-5XI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PRA1-PA182,M1

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