On June 20th, on Mt Kuruma north of Kyoto an interesting ritual is held where Japanese Buddhist monks hack at thick bamboo stalks in order to drive out evil and ensure good harvests. The ritual is known as Takekiri-eshiki and goes back over a thousand years. The origin of the ritual is said to come from an encounter a monk had with two huge snakes in the 9th Century. The snakes were male and female and they no doubt saw the monk as a meal. The monk, however, was able to kill the male snake with a well-aimed prayer. The female snake pleaded for mercy and promised to guard the waters of the mountain. In the Takakiri-eshiki ritual, bamboo stalks representing the male snake are cut by sword-wielding monks. There are two teams representing the ancient provinces of Omi and Tamba. It's believed that whichever team cuts the quicker their represented area will have the better harvest. The monks are dressed as Sohei who were fighting priests of Old Japan ...
The Sumo festival in the small town of Wadayama in Hyogo Prefecture may not have the most skilled sumo wrestlers or the heaviest for that matter but they make up for it with a lot of energy and for their grandmothers with cuteness. To celebrate the autumn harvest, the boys of the village gather at the local shrine to wrestle with each other in sumo fashion wearing the traditional sumo loincloth known as fundoshi. Officiating them is a referee dressed in stylish robes of the Heian Period (794-1192) known as a gyoji. The boys range in age from about 5 to 11 or 12. There is no ritual significance in the age of the contenders. It's just that most of the boys feel embarrassed to stand around in a loincloth once they start Junior High School. The purpose behind the sumo event other than to give their grandparents something to awe about is to bring good fortune to the community. This harkens back to sumo's origins before it became a professional sport. In ...
DAY 13 of January 2012 Sumo Tournament I caught the last hour or so of the January 2012 sumo basho or tournament. Almost didn't go as the weather was nasty with first rain then wet snow that didn't stick. I was glad I did though. Saw some intense matches especially the last one. Really enjoyed it! Here are some photos of the matches I saw on Day 13 mostly with winning shots. ARAN vs KAISEI Brazilian Kaisei beat Russian Aran with a yorikiri - frontal force out while holding onto an opponent's mawashi - loincloth TENKAIHO vs KYOKUTENHO Tenkaiho wins with a yorikiri YOSHIKAZE vs TAKANOYAMA Czech Takanoyama wins with a hikiotoshi - hand pull down MYOGIRYU vs YOSHIAZUMI Myogiryu wins with a oshidashi - frontal push out without griping the opponent's mawashi and maintaining hand contact HOMASHO vs TOSAYUTAKA Match goes to Homasho with a yorikiri KITATAIKI vs TOYOHIBIKI Toyohibiki wins with a yorikiri TAKEKAZE vs OKINOUMI Okinoumi ...
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