The Blessings Before the Festival

There is so much more to Kawagoe Festival than you ever see if you just visit for the festival itself. As a local, I have had the great fortune to see many of the preparations that happen in the lead up to the two-day event, one of the biggest autumn festivals in the Kanto plain. 

I have shared some of them on City-cost before, such as the making up of the festival floats, the moving of the traffic lights and the erection of the Haunted House. But as a religious festival at its core, there are many ritual blessings and ceremonies associated with the festival too. For example, each neighborhood participates in a blessing ceremony in advance of a festival.

This evening, I happened upon one of those ritual blessings and ceremonies while out in Kawagoe. A crowd had gathered at a neighborhood festival headquarters, decorated with lanterns and the red-and-white bunting so closely associated with Japanese festivals. Purple drapery had been hung to mark out the sacred space and, hopefully visible in the photo, is a Shinto priest wearing an eboshi, a tall black ceremonial hat, and carrying a haraegushi, a wooden wand adorned with zigzag paper streamers.

Gathered around him are members of the local float group, dressed in matching happi coats. They stood respectfully as the priest conducted a blessing ahead of the festival. It was a reminder that beneath the music, crowds, and spectacular floats, the Kawagoe Festival remains a religious event at its heart.