Summer Festival at Kurihama-with Aikido club members
It's summer once again. And summer means there are ' Natsu Matsuri ' ( summer festivals ) or ' Bon Matsuri ' ( Bon festivals ) everywhere. This year I was invited as one of the ' guest of honor ' ( actually I would like to think that way ) to attend a festival held at a ' jinja ' ( shrine ) at Kurihama. The reason I was invited is because one of the Aikido club members in my university, Hayakawa-san, is a ' Miko-san ' at the shrine. ( i don't really know what a miko-san really is. It's kinda priest who's in charge of taking care of a jinja, only that the priest is a woman ). Takeuchi-san told me that Hayakawa-san's family have been in charge of taking care of this jinja for generations. And now it seems that it's her turn then.
Well, like other festivals held at Shinto shrines, people who live in the neighborhood took turns in bringing the ' Mikoshi ' around the town, and then back to the jinja.( Inside the Mikoshi is a statue of the guardian who's being kept in the jinja under great care of the priest of the jinja ). It took hours to circle the town, and the club members who joined the march told me that the Mikoshi was damn heavy
) to attend a festival held at a ' jinja ' ( shrine ) at Kurihama. The reason I was invited is because one of the Aikido club members in my university, Hayakawa-san, is a ' Miko-san ' at the shrine. ( i don't really know what a miko-san really is. It's kinda priest who's in charge of taking care of a jinja, only that the priest is a woman ). Takeuchi-san told me that Hayakawa-san's family have been in charge of taking care of this jinja for generations. And now it seems that it's her turn then.
