Morning train ride
7:30 am the train is packed with tourists.
What’s worse, school is out and Japanese students are off for summer vacation but people, people, people, large suitcases (multiple), and strollers.
You may think Japanese are patient, respect one another, and polite. But when it comes to weekday morning trains, everyone is concentrating on themselves and are very impatient. Ready or not ready, off to the next destination.
I was riding on a train to work one day and saw a non-Japanese couple. The man told his partner, “There’s a stroller” and without any hesitation, the woman said “Oh, please” to the father who was pushing the stroller.
This was very heartwarming and at the same time I thought, this rarely happens to Japanese people. Not just to Japanese people but me, too.
Hot days with hottest event in Kyoto
Too many hot days in Kyoto as the landscape is a basin. Hot and humid in summer, cold like bone-cold in winter. After the rainy season, the temperature rise nearly 100℉ and humidity up above 60%. I have trouble sleeping at night even with the air conditioner.
Yet July is the most exciting time of the year for Kyoto, the Gion festival. Gion festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious festivals. It goes through the entire July, originally begun as part of the Gion Shrine’s purification rites to ward off disease and disaster. Now, it has evolved into a grand celebration involving elaborate floats and traditional performances with many visitors around the world. The most exciting part of the event is the Yamaboko Junko and Yoiyama.
Yamaboko Junko, the grand procession of floats that takes place every year on July 17th and 24th. This parade features over 30 different decorated floats called yamaboko, masterpieces of traditional Japanese craftsmanship.Every yamaboko has its own beautiful tapestries, lanterns, and we call it “a moving museum”, representing the area. The floats are drawn through the streets of Kyoto, from Shijyo street to Yasaka shrine, pulled by teams of men with a rope.
Yamaboko is built starting from the beginning of July and what is most interesting is that it is built up without nails.
The days until the Yamaboko Junko are known as Yoiyama, the Pre-Festival Festivities. During Yoiyama, you can see all kinds of yamaboko built around the streets. I went this year to see Kikusui Boko, which I came across. It was interesting to learn that the name came from the Chinese myth. A boy named “Kikujido (Chrysanthemum boy)” gained eternal life by drinking the dew from the Chrysanthemum flowers. This float is said to have been in the tea house of Takeno Jōō, who was the tea master of Sen no Rilkyu. Each float sells lucky charms called chimaki, to put up on the door outside your house. Kikusui Boko’s chimaki was for longevity so this was a great present for my parents.
A funny story I heard from my tea teacher that I thought explains Japanese culture is that for the Gion festival there are always six special boys around the age of 10. They are elected in some way (mostly from a traditional house) and are meant to be god’s servants. For the full July, they are treated like god and are not allowed to walk on the ground like normal people. To be elected for this role is a great honor for the boy and the family. But there is a different festival where a woman is elected for Saioudai, but people say that her marriage age will be in later years.
Traditions that never fade away
On these hot days (I shall say it again), building the float up and doing the historic festival, maybe I am wrong. In the midst of our busy lives, we all have patience but we all have days when we lack patience.
Let’s remember that sometimes the best way forward is to pause, breathe, and appreciate what everyday is a meaningful day. Afterall, everyone has an equal 24 hours, and it’s up to us how we live the day.
Yamaboko Junko https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t13c152j23s
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