Blow away stagnation with bamboo branches!

  

Now who  is needed the most  all over the world? It must be him, Ebisu who is the deity of flourishing business.

 Smile , smile, smile, smiling Ebisu!

A beckoning cat is inviting a good luck!

The 10th of January is the festival of Ebisu, the deity of the prosperous business.  A number of  people rush to Ebisu shrine to get Ebisu's lucky bamboo branches which are believed to invite financial luck and drive away stagnation. All over Japan, there are a lot of Ebisul shrines.

Here is Imamiya Ebisu Shrine (今宮戎神社） in Osaka,

one of the biggest Ebisu shrines in Japan. 

People  throw some  money as offering.

  

 People are waiting in line to buy  auspicious ornaments to attach to the bamboo branches 

from 福むすめ or  Fuku-musume, meaning  lucky maidens.
Fuku-musume are temporary shrine maidens to bless visitors.. 

 As it is very honourable to be chosen as Fukumusume, every year there are a number of surging candidates.  And 40 among them are chosen besides 5 foreign students. They are the most important icons of the festival!

The auspicious ornaments are money pouches, oval gold coins, portable fans, sea breams, straw bags for rice and so on.

It is a fun to choose lucky ornaments with advices of Fuku-musume who attach them to the bamboo branches.

Let's rake up good luck with this rake!

Why are they dabbing a round place?? This is one of two  which symbolise the ears of Ebisu. According to one theory, Ebisu  is hard of hearing. People want to make sure to let Ebisu know their visiting to pray to him for prosperous business. Some of them even attach
 the name cards or stickers of their companies. I am sure Ebisu  grands their wishes very soon.

Let's go home with a great luck!

For your reference:

Bamboo branches are called 福笹, lucky bamboo made of branches of "Moso" bamboo but not of bush bamboo. Moso bamboo has enormous energy to grow. It is said that overnight it grows more than 90cm.

Since ancient days, bamboo has been mentioned in the literature, art, poems and used  for traditional handicrafts. People have even believed that divinity resides in bamboo trees because of their purity, constancy, patience, energy of life, fertility and more which they possess. "The story of Princess Kaguya" or "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter"  is said to have been created based on the mysterious power of the bamboo trees.

Lying Dragon and Swimming Dragon

2012 is the year of the dragon.  Each year has each animal name based on  the twelve animal zodiac signs introduced from China. The twelve animals are mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog and wild boar. I wonder why the eleven animals are real, but only the dragon is imaginary.

These are some of New Year's cards sent by my friends. Which dragon do you like?

Dragons in Japan are divine. They are the deities of water which gather clouds and give blessed  rain to farmers. They never breathe out fire  like many of the dragons in western countries nor are doomed to be vanquished by dragon slayers. Also a green or blue dragon is a directional guardian of east .

 In the grounds of a temple or a shrine, there is a dragon on a water basin. 

Water is pouring out of the mouth, and people wash their hands and rinse their mouths 

to purify themselves before praying.

There are many objects whose names have the Chinese character "龍" meaning a dragon in them.  Especially many of the temples and ponds  contain 龍 or dragon  in their names.

 This is a pond in Shugakuin Imperial Villa in Kyoto.  The island in the pond looks like a swimming dragon. So this pond is called Yokuryu-chi pond "浴龍池"meaning "Swimming Dragon" pond.

It is believed that  people have different destiny and character according to what year of  the animal sign they were born in. The people who were born in the year of the dragon, are said to be very assertive, idealistic, proud, intelligent and have strong  belief, and more. Do you believe it? If you were born in 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964, 1952, 1940, 1928, 1916・・・・・, you are the person of the dragon sign.

On 7th January,  I went to a botanical garden in Kasuga Grand Shrine to pay homage to the tree nicknamed  Garyuu"臥龍" which means "Lying Dragon".  The tree is a  gigantic Ichii-gashi ( a kind of an oak tree) on a small island in a pond of the botanical garden.

The tree was blown down by the heavy wind, but  it never gave up growing.  For me it looks like it has a strong will to live. With the lying trunk covered with moss, it has continued to grow up to the sky.  As the shape of the tree looks like the lying dragon, people have called the tree "lying Dragon" oak. This tree is also a guardian of the garden. I am always amazed with this powerful energy of the tree and look at it with awe.  No wonder, people see the divinity in the tree.

It was a fair winter day. I walked around the garden where there was  no visitors but me. The garden was only for me!

Let's walk for a while.

In the pond, there are a lot of Koi carps which usually beg food noisily,

but now they are very quiet. They are half-hibernating.

Dry leaves look like butterflies!

                                                                                           

An auspicious mushroom.

 

Ornamental cabbages  look like peony flowers. They are popular as New Year's decorations along with bamboo, pine and Japanese apricot. 

Melia azedarac.  I love their delicate purple flowers in May as well as their fruits in winter.

On the left Melia azedarach flowers are in full bloom.( Photo was taken in May, 2011)

 

Oh, harbingers of spring!

Cotton

Fruits of Rosa multiflora

My related blog to this botanical garden ：
                       Paradise Flowers Come Out of 2000-Year Sleep.

Near the botanical garden is a Japanese restaurant where I ate lunch. This is rice porridge cooked with seven wild herbs of spring.  We eat the rice porridge with seven spring herbs to give a rest to the stomach as well as pray for our health on January 7th. We ate a lot of delicious food and rice cakes during New Year's holidays. So, the stomach is tired.

Falkor, the luckdragon with Bastian on the back appears in the sky!

A cup of cappuccino has a  dragon.

He travels once a year.

The children in traditional attire. When my son was five years old, he was one of them.

On-maturi (Honorable Festival)   is the largest festival in Nara which is held on December 17th every year. Actually the festival continues for 4 days from the 15th to the 18th,  and the 17th is the climax as the traditional costume parade and art performance are held.  These parade and the art performances  are the offerings to a deity, called "Young Prince",  the son of Kasuga gods in Kasuga Grand Shrine.

Horse races are part of the festival. Too fast to catch them!

The origin of the festival dates back to the 12th century when rain did not stop and this unusual weather caused a  very bad famine. People were tormented. They decided to ask Young Prince for his help. They invited the deity to a temporary shrine and entertained him by showing traditional art performances. Prayers were granted soon.

One of characteristics of this festival is that many children participate.

This bamboo gate is a boundary to lead to the most sacred place, the temporary shrine.

This is the temporary shrine made of black pine tree branches.

Behind the bamnboo curtain, Young Prince sits and enjoys the parade and performing arts.

 I like this idea that the deity travels once a year  from his shrine to the temporary shrine,

and there he is entertained. 

In front of the temporary shrine, the shrine maidens perform the sacred dances and prayers.

Six performers covering their faces with a white mask,

dance very simple but mysterious dances.

This is based on the legend that the goddess of sea was ugly

and even her face was covered with acorn barnacles.

So, when she was summoned, she appeared with a white mask to hide her face.

The performances are going on and on.

The first Torii gate is decorated with holly Nagi tree branches.

(These photos were taken just before the parade would start.)

Just before the procession starts, the participants are gathering. Some of them are tense and others are relaxed.

He is rechecking the itinerary of the festival.

The other main characters are horses. Some of them are really excited.

On the 15th December, the costumes for the festival are exhibited.

At the same day, a shrine maiden performs "Boiling Water" ritual to invite the local deities

to pray to them for the success of the festival.

May all bad things be gone with 2011 and all good things come with 2012.
I wish your Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!