Shimogamo sparkling in the sunshine as participants line up in order
May 12 is a big day for Kyoto. An awesome day, you might say. This is the day when the two co-hosts of the Aoi Matsuri, Shimogamo and Kamigamo, receive the kami from their sacred hills and renew the spirit power of the shrines. The way they do this is quite a contrast.
The Miare-sai of Kamigamo Shrine is the most secret in Kyoto, carried out in darkness and exclusive of all outsiders. The only participants are twelve priests, most of whom have engaged in ritual abstinence and purification beforehand. The purpose is to petition the descent of the shrine kami, Kamo Wakeikazuchi.
Around 7.50 pm the priests leave the administration building, with a single burning reed torch to light the way. They walk in the direction of the sacred hill Koyama to an area where a wall of pine boughs prevents sight of a himorogi (vehicle in which to receive the kami). The kami is riually invited to descend, and once it has alighted the head priest waiting back at the shrine is informed by a loud crow call (the Kamo were ‘the crow clan’ associated with the three-legged crow in the Jimmu myth). The head priest then prepares to lead the investiture of the newly energised spirit in the Honden.
At Shimogamo on the other hand there is a colourful festival involving a large procession of people in Heian-era costume. After rites of purification, the participants are handed the various flags and ceremonial objects they will carry with them. In olden days they would then have walked or ridden on horse back to Mt Mikage, some distance away – now they ride by chartered bus, and the mikoshi to bear the kami travels by truck.
The way I see the two festivals is as a kind of recharging of the batteries. The kami that reside in the ‘spirit-body’ of the shrine are like a charge of electricity – pure energy – and once a year they need to be renewed or revitalised by recharging from the source. The kami of Kamigamo originally ‘descended’ onto Mt Koyama; those of Shimogamo onto Mt Mikage. In this way, with fully recharged batteries, the two shrines are fully prepared for the big parade of May 15 and the visit of the Imperial Messenger.
The mikoshi sits on a truck, incongruously parked in the entrance gateway of the inner compound
Participants are purified prior to the beginning of the event
Priests at prayer towards the Mitarashi Shrine which houses a kami of purification
Opening rituals are carried out by miko and priests in full view of all
Participants in the procession are called up one by one and handed their respective ceremonial items
Priestess with the unusual headdress worn at Shiimogamo. Standing still through all the pre-rituals takes a lot of patience.
In a carefully choreographed circular sweep of the shrine compound, the procession begins to file out
Then into the woods of Shimogamo where a line of buses stand waiting to transport participants up to sacred Mt Mikage.
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