OCHI KOCHI

Sakamoto is the land where Shinto continues to blend with Buddhism. Here, the Hiyoshi Sannou Festival is a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation for over 1200 years. A number of rituals featuring portable shrines honoring the gods and goddesses of marriage and birth are held over the course of 6 weeks from the beginning of March. The heads of the 4 districts allocate the responsibilities of the festival to the younger generation, as a rite of passage into adulthood. Men fraternize as they exchange drinks and festival food, and work together to carry the portable shrines. Women steadily work in the background, bonding as they support their families. By engaging in the festival, people deepen their community ties of kinship, and by staging the festival, the rites continue to be transmitted to the next generation. But the unfortunate phenomenon of the younger generation leaving their hometown is apparent, even here in Sakamoto. With the declining birthrate, there are some rituals which are simply not performed. However, this festival still takes place every year, and the hearts of those who grew up here refuse to let go of this tradition. Even those people who have left, return on this day to wrap their bodies in the festival costumes and to be drawn into the light of burning pine torches. I, myself, am one of the people who was born and raised here and left as I became an adult. However, through my project that addresses how Lake Biwa and the faith that centers around it melt into the rhythms of life here, I have come to realize that it was these very things that shaped me. I have started to feel that I am drawn to my hometown like never before. While festivals are a way to pass down the faith and tradition that our ancestors cherished, they are also a way to give shape to the love and nostalgia for the hometowns of the people living in the area, as they stimulate a part within us that is incorporated into our DNA. I believe that this is the value of festivals for the villages of Japan.