12-21: Ceremonies and Festivals

CAPTION: Children dressed up in kimono and happi coats, pose in front of a portable shrine (mikoshi) at a local festival. In the background is a man playing a Japanese flute.

ADDITIONAL INFO: This portable shrine is small enough for ten to fifteen children. They hold it up and march through the community. Mikoshi means a palanquin for a god. Usually a festival is held once a year in the precinct yard of a local shrine.

CAPTION: It is another shot of the six children in front of the portable shrine (mikoshi).

ADDITIONAL INFO: The two girls from the right in kimono are wearing hats with imitation flowers and good geta. They look like dancers for the festival. The third girl from the right is wearing a happi coat and Japanese sandals (zōri), so she would join with the boys as mikoshi bearers.

CAPTION: Boys and a girl are hanging around a portable shrine (mikoshi). Some of them are wearing Japanese sandals (zōri) instead of Japanese wooden clogs (geta).

ADDITIONAL INFO: The placard underneath the Phoenix (ho’ō) reads Aoyama 3-chome. Unfortunately, Aoyama is a common place name in Japan, but there is a famous Aoyama in Tokyo, too.

CAPTION: The girl at the right end of the line seems concerned about her kimono.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Several of the happi coats are labeled “kowaka,” which means children participants of a festival. There are a variety of matsuri in Japan. Some attract a large number of tourists, and others are like this festival only for the people in a community. People from different households and generations develop community membership through this kind of community festival. But this type of community building has declined in many places in Japan.

CAPTION: Traditional style firefighters (hikeshi) are performing stunts on the top of ladders for an annual fire-brigade review (dezomeshiki).

ADDITIONAL INFO: According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Fire Department, the first dezomeshiki in Tokyo after WWII was held in the Imperial Palace Plaza (Kōkyomae Hiroba) on January 15, 1947. A Japanese castle style building can be seen at the top left of this photo, so the dezomeshiki in Pennino’s photos was probably held in the Imperial Palace Plaza. Based on the possible dates of other photos in the collection, this picture was probably taken on 1/15/1949 or 1/15/1950.

CAPTION: Edo-style firefighters (hikeshi) in happi coats are lined up.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Dezomeshiki was started in Tokyo, known as Edo, during the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868), to ease residents’ anxiety. Buildings were made of wood, thus fires were a constant concern. The first festival was held in 1659 to help build the confidence of residents who experienced a major fire two years earlier. The happi coats for Edo firefighters were made thick and heavy to protect them from the heat of fire.

CAPTION: Edo-style firefighters (hikeshi) march, waiving their fireman’s standards (matoi) for dezomeshiki.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Traditionally firefighters were divided into groups called fire extinguishing groups (hikeshigumi). Hikeshi literally means fire extinguishing but also means firefighters in the Tokugawa Period. Fire extinguishing groups (hikeshigumi) were in charge of destroying houses to prevent the spread of fire. Each hikeshigumi had its own matoi as its symbol.

CAPTION: Another shot of Edo-style firemen marching and waiving their fireman’s standards (matoi) for dezomeshiki. One fireman is carrying a ladder (hashigo).

ADDITIONAL INFO: Edo was one of the most populated cities in the world (Edo’s population in 1800 was estimated to be 1 million, and London’s was 0.9 million), and numerous houses made of wood and paper were crowded in the downtown area of the city. Accordingly, it was infamous for deadly large-scale fires especially during the dry winter when people warmed themselves with charcoal. People ironically said that “fires and fighting” (kaji to kenka) were the “Flowers of Edo” (Edo no hana) or specialties of Edo.

CAPTION: The Emperor’s brother and sister-in-law attend a ceremony at a train station.

ADDITIONAL INFO: It is unknown which station this picture was taken at. The man and woman on the far right of the seated guests (from the point of view of the photographer) are most likely Chichibunomiya Yasuhito (1903-1953) and his wife, Matsudaira Setsuko (1909-1995). The train in the rear may be one of the trains set aside for exclusive use by the emperor and his family.

CAPTION: These men are performing a ceremony for purifying a building site (jichinsai) with a Shinto priest (kannushi) standing by to give his blessings.

ADDITIONAL INFO: This ceremony is performed to purify the property and to ensure that construction goes smoothly. Jichinsai is even performed today at the construction sites of some high-rise buildings.