The Sanja Matsuri, a symbolic festival of
Tokyo, is one of the largest festivals of
mikoshi (portable shrines) held in
Asakusa, which is a quarter where you can
still find traditional houses and streets.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of
spectators visit Asakusa during the three
festival days. With amazing vigor, men
carry several dozens of portable shrines
on their shoulders. There are also
portable shrines carried by women only,
and by children only. The most exciting
moments are when the portable shrines are
jolted vehemently, for this jolting is
believed to intensify the power of the
deities mounted on the portable shrines.
On the Saturday around noon, small and
large portable shrines gather at Asakusa
Shrine, and then set off to parade through
the town streets. On the Sunday, three
especially large-sized portable shrines
join the parade. These huge portable
shrines depart from Asakusa Shrine early
in the morning at 6 o'clock, and return
around 8 o'clock at night.
Other than the portable shrines, the
parade which starts at 1 o'clock in the
afternoon on the Friday is really worth
seeing. Floats which carry musicians
playing flutes and beating drums, people
dressed as traditional artisans and
dancers performing traditional dance all
parade down Yanagi-dori to Asakusa Shrine.
When the troupe arrives at the shrine, you
can see the performance of a dance called
Binzasara Mai. This is a dance praying for
abundant harvest and prosperity of one's
descendants performed by people dressed in
splendid costumes while holding binzasara,
which are musical instruments made of
bamboo strips strung together. This
instrument is very interesting for it is
played by opening and closing it like an
accordion, and produces rich melodies.
