The Roving Ronin Report

80 year swordsman at a  samurai festival  in Saitama

Setsubun at Nagata Shrine in Kobe. Setsubun is a spring exorcism ritual on February 3rd which used to be on the old Chinese New Year's Eve. Bad luck in the form of devils (oni) are driven away with a handful of tossed beans. At Nagata Shrine though the oni are actually the good guys and they drive away evil with fire and sword. The men who are to perform the ceremony prepare themselves with fasting and purification rituals such as misogi. Misogi is plunging into cold water to cleanse one's self body and soul. Tsuina Shiki or Oniyari is the exorcism ritual to drive away evil and disaster. Nagata Shrine is unique in that oni perform the ritual. This particular ritual is believed to be over 500 years old. These two particular oni are known for their healing properties. They will touch their temples then lay their hands on a person to heal them and protect them. Sickness is part of the evil that oni drive away.  In olden days sicknesses was just a...

Tonami Yotaka Matsuri is a summer festival in Tonami city of Toyama prefecture where colorful ornate floats are rushed at each other to crash into each other like a demolition derby with floats. The floats are pulled through streets lined with illustrated paper lanterns then they bring them together for the tsukiawase. Tsukiawase is the climatic collision event where two floats are rushed at each other and crashed together. The float handlers yank on ropes as they shout trying to push their opponents back. They crash together three times before the next contenders come together for their turn. A winner is declared but it's hard to tell which one wins except in the obvious cases where a float gets knocked back on its frame. All of this is done to entertain the gods and bring good harvests in the fall. The festival takes place in mid-June on the weekend from 7pm. ...