Japanese Culture: Mikoshi

Mikoshi (神輿) are small, portable Japanese Shinto shrines. Followers of the Shinto religion believe that a mikoshi serves as the proper way to transport a deity ( kami ) in Japan.



Often, these vessels look like small rectangular shaped buildings which are built to resemble a Shinto shrine. Mikoshi are used to symbolically house the spirit of a Japanese deity while they are moved between a main shrine to a temporary one during matsuri (Japanese festival) or holiday.

These portable shrines stand on two or four carrying poles that make it possible for a group of people to carry it, bearing it on their shoulders as they move it around at the festival. These usually requires anywhere from 10 to 20 people depending on the size and weight of the mikoshi. They bring it from the main shrine, and carry it around the various Japanese neighborhoods that worship at the shrine.

Some people who carry the mikoshi wave it from side to side or up and down to amuse the Japanese deity inside. The people will also chant and play music along with the ceremony. How this is down however depends mostly on regional Japanese cultures and history.

The most common way to shoulder mikoshi in Japan is known as Hirakatsugi style. The shout used during this proceeding is “wasshoi wasyoi”. Another very popular method is the Edomae style, where they shout “say ya, soi ya, sah, sorya” and the mikoshi is swayed wildly up and down and a little to the right and left. The Kanagawa prefecture also has a distinct style called the Dokkoi. This shouldering style usually uses two poles. The mikoshi is moved up and down rhythmically, and more slowly than in the Edomae style. Their shout is “dokkoi ,dokkoi, dokkoi , sorya”.

During the festival they might leave it for a short period of time at a designated area before returning it to the main shrine. Some towns dip the mikoshi in the water of a nearby lake, river, or ocean. This Japanese custom is called ohamaori.

The mikoshi themselves are extravagantly decorated. They come with gold and silver decorations, beautiful engravings, along with a magnificent phoenix placed on its roof. Due to its appearance, some westerners believe the origin of Japanese mikoshi is somehow related to the ancient Jewish tabernacle ark. In reality, mikoshi and the biblical ark of the covenant do not have much in common at all and do not share a common ancestry. They differ greatly in both their appearance and production as well as their purpose.

The real origin of the mikoshi lies with harvest festivals. Ancient Japanese hunters and gatherers would transport their deity during this time to their new home while also celebrating a successful hunt or harvest at the same time. A mikoshi was believed to have been first used to transport Hachiman to Todaiji temple from Usa Shrine in 749.




Source: Japan finds

http://www.dubtopia.eu/japanese-culture/mikoshi