おすすめ/RECOMMENDED

三大祭、紅葉、名所などを厳選して記事とビデオでご紹介!
Recommended articles and videos, BAAH!

あ、ポチッとな/CLICK HERE!
PR

Ayagasahoko, a Yamahoko in Gion matsuri festival

スポンサーリンク

Overview 概説

 Ayagasahoko, or sometimes pronounced Ayagasaboko in colloquial way, is one of the Yamahoko floats participate in Yamahoko Junko parade in Gion matsuri festival.

 Sometimes, Ayagasahoko is referred as “the primitive form” of Yamahoko float. Let us learn about the history of Ayagasahoko and Gion matsri and explore what the expression means.

スポンサーリンク

A short history of Ayakasahoko 綾傘鉾の歴史

 Yamahoko float has four kinds; Hoko, Yatai, Kasahoko, Hikiyama, and Kakiyama. Ayagasahoko is Kasahoko. Kasahoko is a hoko which has umbrella.

剣鉾

 In Gion matsuri, people bring Deity(s) on the portable shrine(s) to Kyoto city and ask them to get rid of evil spirits which gathered around hoko. Throughout 1149 years, hoko plays a role to gather evil spirits a.k.a Ekishin(Deity who brings us malady). If you can’t understand evil spirit, imagine something like phantom. Hoko is a kind of arms used in  ancient times and also used in ritual as Yorishiro(依代) which Ekishin descend to. This is the origin of Yaomahoko float in Gion matsuri. Take a look at the photo above. They are hoko-heads. They look like swords and have ornaments resemble leafs. The leafs are baits: they glitter to catch Ekishin.

神泉苑祭

 At the beginning, people stood hoko like this. As years go by, they hold them by the hand and stroll around the ancient Kyoto city. They developed these hoko into four kinds of Yamahoko.

Ayakasa hoko

 At least in early 15th century, Ayagasahoko was in the same form as we can see today. Around the 16th century, merchants in Kyoto gained prosperity and went into their heyday. They belonged to Za(座), something like guild in the West. These Za are under the control of Gion-sya, the present-day Yasaka shrine. They developed hoko into Yamahoko floats as a gratitude for Gion-sya which gave them permission and privilage to their business.

Ayakasa hoko

 Ayagasahoko was not an exception. In 1834, they built Hikiyama(曳山) but it was caught by huge fire and went into debris in 1864.

 The fire is called Genji no taika(元治の大火). It was so enormous that it burnt out a half of Kyoto city. Many Yamaboko suffered its damage. For example, Ofunahoko was seriously wrecked by the fire and it took fifteen decades for it to come back to Yamahoko parade. After the incident it is believed that Ayagasahoko went back to the form it used be.

スポンサーリンク

The architecture of Ayakasahoko 綾傘鉾の構造

Umbrellas 傘

 The word “Ayagasahoko” is devided into 3 words; “Aya,” “Kasa,” ans “Hoko.” Aya means “on the Ayanokoji street.” Kasa is a word stands for Umbrella in Japanese. Hoko reveals that it is a developed form of the ancient hoko. Ayagasahoko consists of two Kasa.

ayakasahoko綾傘鉾飛天の図

 One is this. A wheeled-box has an umbrella. The persons on it are Hiten(飛天) who praise the Buddhism. They are based on the picture of Hiten in Hokaiji temple in Kyoto.

綾傘鉾ご神体

 On the top of the umbrella, there is a figurine of chicken which holds a golden egg. It is a Goshintai(御神体). Goshintai has the same role as Yorishiro. Yamahoko usually has Goshintai. For example, Kita kannnon yama has a statue of Buddhist Deity. In the case of Yamahoko, Deity who saves us descends to Goshintai. On the other hand, Deity who brings us disasters descends to Yamahoko itself. It might sound strange that a Deity who harm us and save us descend to the same thing.

綾傘鉾胴幕

 The wheeled-box is wrapped in sheets of cloth. They escaped narrowly the Genji no taika in 1864.

 The other is this. The umbrella is made of Yuzen(友禅) designed by Moriguchi Kako(森口華弘), a Yuzen artist listed as Living National Treasure of Japan.

友禅/Yuzen

 Yuzen is hand-made dyeing technique for fabrics.

綾傘鉾友禅

 The umbrella has four sheets of Yuzen. The plants painted on them tell us four seasons.

Bofuri hayashi 棒振り囃子

 The peculiar thing on Ayagasahoko is Bofurihayashi. Hayashi is music played in Japanese festival to cheer it up. Hayashi of Ayakasahoko has dance performance. We have exact idea when it began but we can find it in Yamahoko parade at least in the 17th century.

 The performers leads Ayagasahoko in Yamahoko parade. In Yoiyama nights, we can enjoy Bofurihayashi near Ayakasahoko, too. On the very day of the parade, they dance with mask on.

Chigo お稚児さん

 Ayakasa hoko is also led by Chigo(稚児). Chigo is a child who serves for Gion matsuri. Chigo visits Yasaka shrine prior to Yamahoko parade to pray for the success of Gion matsuri.

スポンサーリンク

What is Gion matsuri festival? 祇園祭とは?

神泉苑

 The history of Gion matsturi festival dates back to 869. At that time in Kyoto, many people suffered smallpox, dysentery, and other epidemics because of hot and damp whether and ill-prepared water supply. In addtition to it, whole Japan saw natural disasters like earthquake and tsunami and suffered huge expansion of maladies.

 In those days, people thought evil spirit causes epidemics and natural disasters. The imperial court gave a priest of Gion-sya an order to hold Goryo-e (御霊会), the ritual to calm down evil spirit at Shinsen-en (神泉苑), the largest pond in ancient Kyoto. (The picture above.).

上賀茂神社の剣矛

 He put the spirit of Gozu-tenno, the Buddhist Deity, into one of three portable shrines and sent them from Gion-sya to Shinsen-en and placed 66 hoko (矛) there (We don’t have exact idea of their appearance but I suppose they looked like these hoko in the picutre above). His aim is to put the evil spirits together and have them descended to the hokos and ask Gozu-tenno to get rid of them.

This ritual is called Gion-goryo-e, the origin of Gion matsuri festival. In the begging, the Goryo-e was held when epidemics expanded, and became annual event in 970. Since then, the festival was carried on for 1000 years despite of incessant interruption.

函谷鉾大船鉾

The hokos in Gion goryo-e developed into Yamahokos/Yamabokos (山鉾). At the first time, people held hokos by the hand. In Muromachi period (1336 – 1573), they are on the carriage called Hokosya (鉾車). At the end of the period, the hokosya began to be decorated with ornaments as Yamahoko of these days. Yamahoko was decided to be registered as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage on last November.

Gion matsuri festival in Kyoto 2024: Mikoshis, Yamahoko floats, and Yoiyamas!!! 祇園祭2024英語で説明
The guide on Gion matsuri festival 2024 in Kyoto; its schedule, Mikoshis, Yamahoko floats, Yoiyamas, history, the reason why it is celebrated, souvenirs, and other must-sees. Anything is available.



この記事が気に入ったら
いいね!してね。
Follow me, BAAH!
Don't miss the latest article from Kyoto.
Gion Matsuri FestivalFor International Readers
スポンサーリンク
シェアする
フォローしてね/ Follow me, BAAH!
ヤギの京都観光案内/KYOTO GOAT BLOG