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- Senzaki Gion Festival (2017)
Senzaki Gion Festival (2017)
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Last updated:
Aug 2, 2017
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About the writer:
Nagato Tourism Convention Association
2017 Senzaki Gion Festival Event Report
Senzaki, Nagato City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, has long been a prosperous fishing and commercial district, and every July the Senzaki Gion Festival is held at Yasaka Shrine in Senzaki (this year the festival was held from July 19 (Wed) to 26 (Wed)). This article reports on the portable shrine and float parade that took place on July 20 (Thu.) and 26 (Wed.)!
What is the Senzaki Gion Festival?
The Senzaki Gion Festival is said to be one of the three major festivals in Otsu, along with the Akasaki Festival in the Fukagawa district and the Hitomaru Festival in the Aburaya district, and has a long tradition. The portable shrine and floats parade through the town toward Kogion, located at the northern end of the district. On July 26, the portable shrine and floats return from Kogion to Yasaka Shrine.
July 20
On the first day, portable shrines and floats went around in the order of Gion-machi, Minamimachi, Sakae-machi, Honmachi, Kitahonmachi, Suzakimachi, and Kogion, starting from Yasaka Shrine!
During the procession, the portable shrine stops at a designated point, and the priest of Yasaka Shrine gives a prayer of congratulation.
The floats are accompanied by a musical band and cute dancers. The floats also stop at designated points for dancing.
The cuteness of the dancers drew applause from the onlookers after each dance. The children of Senzaki Elementary School also performed "Whale Song" at Seaside Square in Senzaki. The temperature was extremely high on the day of the festival, and all participants were sweating profusely.
The wheels of the float are made of large logs. and the pullers push the float to change direction.
The mikoshi is pulled around on a cart, and some also go around on a light truck dolly.
The mikoshi was housed at Kogion, the last stop on the day.
The Gion Festival lasts four to five hours. As the sun goes down and it gets dark, the lanterns of the floats are lit.
July 26th.
On the 26th, the mikoshi will return to Yasaka Shrine. From Kogion, the mikoshi and floats went around in the following order: Imaura-machi, Kajiya-machi, Nakashinmachi, Shinmachi, Saiwai-machi, Nishiki-cho, Asahinaga, Shinyashiki-machi, Shinkai-machi, and Yasaka Shrine!
When the floats change direction significantly, they leave marks on the ground where the logs of the wheels have been scraped off.
As on the 20th, the bus stopped at designated points and dances were performed. The day was slightly cloudy and the temperature was relatively cool.
On this day, many people played the role of float pullers, and the enthusiastic orders of the float leaders echoed through the energetic floats.
The portable shrine side was not to be outdone! The whistle of the order is followed by "Wasshoi, wasshoi, wasshoi! Wasshoi!" to the whistle. to the whistle of the order.
After the floats arrived at Yasaka Shrine, the last dance was performed to close the event. A hot week in Senzaki has come to an end!
