Japan Wonder Travel Blog
What is Japanese Festival, Matsuri?
Festivals are something that we all love, enjoy, and look forward to. Each county boasts a range of unique and exciting festivals which are strongly associated with its history and tradition. Japan is also home to impressive festivals, and some of which have a long history of hundreds of years since ancient times. Here we introduce the history and how it all started, and the purpose of festivals in Japan with a list of famous ones that you can join!
Origin of festivals in Japan
From ancient times, festivals have been strongly associated with people’s lives in Japan. The Japanese word for festivals, matsuri (祭り), originally derived from “祀り(matsuri)”, which has the same pronunciation but means enshrine or worship. Matsuri used to be a ritual for thanking gods and deities in nature. The fundamental concept is called Animism, which is from the Japanese religion shinto that regards the existence of deities everywhere in nature.
Many of the traditional festivals come from these rituals, for example, before the farming season, they carry out the festivals to pray for a good harvest of the year, and in the harvest season, festivals take place to appreciate the year’s successful harvest.
According to some archeological perspective, Japanese festivals back in ancient times can be divided into two categories based on the purposes: To pray for a good harvest and to ward off the evil spirits. But in later times, more festivals take place with new purposes.
1. Pray for a good harvest
It is easy to imagine that ancient people significantly relied on the result of harvest every year to maintain their lives. Once severe natural disasters occur, it could cause serious damage to crops and farm products, which eventually threaten their lives. To prevent these situations, people carried out festivals to pray to the deity of harvest for a steady and great harvest for the year. The famous festival with this purpose is Kinen-sai which is held at Ise Grand Shrine in February. Other festivals to appreciate the year’s harvest are held in autumn, which are known as Niiname-sai.
2. Ward off the evil spirits, disaster and plague
Especially during summer, festivals are held to ward off any bad influences throughout the country. Often plague was spread, people suffered from typhoons and flood, and their farm was damaged by pest insects in summer. People believed these damages were caused as divine punishments and started the festivals to propitiate the deities. The most famous festivals based on this purpose are the Gion Festival in Kyoto and the Tenjin Festival in Osaka.
3. Serve as a memorial service for ancestors
Many summer festivals are held during Obon season, which is the traditional event in August to honor the spirits of ancestors in Japan. It is believed that the spirits of ancestors will return home during that time. Obon festivals often involve bon-odori, a dancing performance which originated from the ritual to welcome and console the souls. The famous obon festivals are Gozan Okuribi and Awa Odori
4. Pray for a stable, peaceful nation
During ancient times, people repeatedly suffered from deadly diseases as well as political conflicts. Some festivals played an important role to reduce these anxieties among people and encourage them to hope for a peaceful nation under a stable government.
5. Revitalize the town
There are relatively new festivals such as Sapporo Snow Festivals in Hokkaido and sakura (cherry blossom) festivals all over Japan which are held to attract tourists and revitalize the area. Also seasonal flower festivals can be seen such as hydrangea festivals during the rainy season in Japan for the same purpose.
JESIER T. MAQUE