The Great Festival of Fujisaki Hachimangu Shrine
The Great Festival of Fujisaki Hachimangu Shrine is a festival of Fujisaki-hachimangu at Chūō-ku, Kumamoto every September, characterized by a parade of Shinto priests, followed by groups of followers who chase their horses shouting, "Boshita, Boshita", in earlier times; but now the parade followers, "Dookai Dookai", or other phrases. Recently 17,000 people participated in this festival.
Name
The formal name of this festival is 藤崎八旛宮秋季例大祭, or Fujisaki-hachimangu, autumn great festival. Previously it was called Boshita Matsuri in Japanese, though it is not used officially, because of a view that this comes from "Horoboshita," or Japan destroyed Korea, although Korea was not in the shouting phrase. However, there are other views, as described below in the section entitled Controversy.The origin of Boshita is not known; decorated horses were not employed, and there was no horse chasing at the time of Katō Kiyomasa. A view states that it had been used since the First Sino-Japanese War. The use of Boshita was claimed at the time of world exhibition at Osaka in 1970, since Japanese of Korean origin felt miserable at the time of the festival. New shouting phrases have been up to the groups which participate; it was decided upon in August 1990.
Parade of Shinto priests
The climax of the autumn great festival of Fujisaki-hachimangu comes on the last day of the festival. It consists of the parade of portable shrines, followed by a parade of samurai re-enactors, and a parade of decorated horses, chased by many followers.History
This festival originated in Ho-jo-e, a festival of letting wild animals go into the fields, a Buddhist custom, but which was introduced to the Shinto shrines and of which, Ho-jo-e of Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū, Kyoto is well known. The Kami of Fujisaki Hachimangu came from Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū. However, no trace of Ho-jo-e can be found in the present festival.The Zuibyo, or parade of following samurai, certainly originated from the returning samurai of Katō Kiyomasa from Korea during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598). Katō Kiyomasa thanked the Kami of the Fujisaki-hachimangu for the safe return by leading the parade of his followers. This custom continued into the Hosokawa clan period, with three important samurai figures: head of followers, head of spears, parade head.
The decorated horses were originally those for Shinto priests, twelve in number, and in the Hosokawa clan period, only upper-class samurai families presented horses. The distance from the shrine to the otabisho was short, and kannushi did not ride on the horses. Therefore, the decorations on the horses became gradually gala and greater. The decorations on the horses were originally from the symbols of sexual organs. There had been two schools, but only Ando school has been observed. After the Meiji Restoration, decorated horses were prepared by town people, and recently the decorated horses number about 60. In 2007, the horses numbered 67, and following people numbered 17,000, indicating that this is the biggest festival of Kumamoto city.
The Festival
The festival continues for 5 days. On the first day, the head of Fujisakigu believers prays, and there are ceremonies of lion dance dress purification, musical instrument purification and purification of various instruments.On the next day, there are a tea dedication ceremony and a haiku dedication ceremony. On the third day, Kenpei Sai, dedication of Japanese traditional fighting matches such as fencing, and dedication of traditional Japanese dancing. On the fourth day, purification and decorations of horses, dedication of flower arrangement and travelling portable shrines.
On the fifth day is the parade, headed by kannushi, starting at 6 a.m., three portable shrines, parades of followers, lion dances, portable shrines carried by children, and finally the groups of decorated horses. Decorated horse group people are dressed in uniforms of their own, dancing with folding fans, drums, trumpets, shouting "Dookai Dookai", chasing the decorated horse of their group. Some horses run violently and sometimes injure people nearby. These groups are from town groups, companies, and graduates of schools and other groups.
The order of the parade is determined by drawing lots. Exceptions are the top three groups which exist near the shrine; which must do preparations and cleanup after the festival.