Preparing the Shrine - Video

The villages are required to volunteer to prepare the Shinto shrine (jinja) for the annual local sumo tournament. There are ten main villagesin the town so every ten years, we have the honor of making the ropes from local rice straw, cleaning the shrine and preparing the grounds for the big event. My village, Nunomia, was headed by the old grouse who keeps men and women separated. The men got together, with a few six packs of beer, to make the ropes. The women cleaned and got tea. I'm not complaining, I like tea, but ten years ago, I was in the beer group. Since only one member from each household is required to attend these events, husbands and wives don't work together. Most events keep us apart - the upcoming rice preparation is women only; the grounds event is for men; cleaning is for women; beer is for men and so it goes.

At the 600-year old shrine at the top of the hill, overlooking our little community, we gathered on Oct. 4 to clean the buildings, sweep the grounds, weed, trim vines, hang the decorations and burn the old decorations. The Shinto shrine is used for happy events, like sumo tournaments, weddings, children's day ceremonies, New Year's celebrations, blessing the crops and so forth. I like the shrine: there is a big bell on a huge rope that you ring to wake up some of the over 800 kinds of gods that dwell in nature before you clap your hands twice, pray and toss some coins into the box. It is not the original building of 600 years ago - that being lost to fires and disasters. But each subsequent shrine is built exactly like the previous one so the past really blends with the present. Some of the trees are several hundreds of years old, although their top branches have been lopped off by recent windstorms.

I was asked to join the older women's group for cleaning the building---hmmph is all I can say - it's not like I can't pull a weed. It seemed like there was 600 years of dirt in the place- oh, it was dirty - but that's because the shrine is all about nature. The wind blows through the open walls (along with the dust) and it doesn't take years for it to get black. The ladies appreciated my height when it came to clearing spiderwebs and cleaning high places. Thank you God for long arms. The men, following a script that details the exact tasks that need to be done, according to long-held traditions,set about hanging the rice straw ropes (shimenawa) that are believed to keep away evil and sickness. It reminds me of hanging Christmas lights and streamers. The old rocks and trees (shintai) are where spirits live, so they are decorated as well. It was a perfect day among the ginko trees and bamboo but the tail of typhoon #18 that followed during the week may have undone our careful work. For a better idea of how we work together- take a look at the video. I tried to shorten it so there are some choppy cuts and it still is long- but it will give you a sense of our happy gathering!