Michizane's Monthly Matsuri

Trip Start Jan 20, 2006

Trip End Dec 23, 2006

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Flag of Japan Kyoto, Japan
Saturday, February 25, 2006

Michizane Sugawara was an extremely well-learned man of the late 9th century and those who spoke wither him were awed and humbled by his intelligence. He became one of emperor Uda's most trusted advisors, something that made him the target of envy. A group of high ranking families conspired and slandered him so severely that he was exiled and died soon after. It was then that earthquakes and thunderstorms began to continuously terrorize Japan, starting great fires and causing significant destruction. Many of those who had slandered Michizane met with strange and untimely deaths. Both the commoners and the court became convinced that it was Michizane's wrath, and granted him the title of a god. To appease him, a grand shrine was built in the capital of Kyoto. This shrine has many names, but I first heard of it as Kitano Tenmangu

In 987, a matsuri, or market/festival was held at Kitano Tenmangu for the first time

1. Market

. This matsuri has been held almost every month ever since. February 25th was just such a day. This was a particularly fitting day to attend as well, since it fell on a Saturday and the plum trees for which the shrine is famous for were just beginning to bloom. We arrived in the late morning- the busiest time. Surrounding the temple was the largest and liveliest flea-market I have ever scene, even outdoing one I attended in Boston long ago. We fought our way in through a river of people banked by colorful tents, bombarded by the smells of cooking food and calls from the vendors.

Everything from hello kitty to samurai helmets was for sale. Apparently one must arrive around sunrise to catch all the best deals, but there were still lots of fascinating Eastern artifacts and fabrics that would have likely been much pricier if found back home. I learned the valuable lesson that in such situations, haggling is still alive and well. This significantly reduced the price of an ancient Chinese arrowhead that I wanted. The vendor claimed my arrowhead to be 800 years old. I attempted to verify this that night online, but the only sight that had an arrowhead that looked exactly like mine placed it at 2,200 years of age. I'm fine either way!

Inside the walls of Kitano Tenmangu it was crowded, but nothing compared to the market outside

2. Inside

. It is a beautiful shrine with many buildings and rows of plum trees. Because Michizane Sugawara was so revered as a scholar, his shrine is a place of pilgrimage for young students praying for wisdom and good grades. I would have done so, but the line in front of the main building would have taken hours. I was content to stroll through the complex taking excessive amounts of pictures and enjoying the beautiful and temperate spring day. The outskirts of the temple fall under the shade of tall trees, and hearing the wind in the leaves was wonderful for me, something I had not heard in a month. Sometimes you don't know how much you have missed something until you have it again.

Within the shrine I finally caught my first glimpse of Maiko. Maiko are apprenticing Geisha. Their faces are painted white, and most foreigners mistake them for Geisha (who do not white their faces and are therefore not easy to spot). I was unable to get pictures since the Maiko were in a hurry. Pausing in such a crowded place could be perilous, and the Maiko would never get away from camera carrying people like me. I later bought an antique postcard featuring a Maiko to make up for my lack of pictures.

Though the market continues on after dark, we were ready to leave around sunset. Mark and I decided that rather than bussing back to the train station, we would take the half-hour walk through the city. It was not a particularly pretty section of Kyoto, but good exercise. Right before the station is a wide river. Instead of walking across the bride, we decide to cross via stepping stones. This proved to be a great end to great day. We might have looked silly having such a time jumping from rock to rock and taking pictures, but we were not the only ones. Several Japanese: some kids, a young couple, and an older couple were doing the same. I guess no matter what age or race you belong to, stepping stones are still fun.