Excusemimasen, have you seen my wabi-sabi?: 05/27/10

I had planned to take the bus from Kitaoji Station back up to Kamigamo shrine, where my culture class was meeting around 3:30 to watch the Aoi Matsuri procession arrive. Unfortunately I was lacking some foresight that day, and failed to realize, until it was too late, that the procession processing along the road beside Kamo river would
1) back up traffic in the nearby are
2) completely stop the bus routes going to Kamigamo Jinja.
Apparently there are no such things as detours in Japan. So when another bus going in vaguely the same direction I needed to go in pulled out into complete standstill traffic on Kitaoji-dori, I waited for about 5 minutes, then flashed my all-day bus pass to the driver and disembarked with two others. I walked down to the intersection in hopes of crossing the bridge and catching a bus going uphill on the other side, but they weren't really letting people across.

a gissha

the Norijiri

So, I ended up walking along one of the small side roads next to the main one along Kamogawa, to get around the crowds stopping up the sidewalks and beat the procession to the shrine. At a very brisk pace, it still took me about 25 minutes to reach Kamigamo Jinja, where I managed to find my class, and a couple of other stray I-Housers.

I set up shop near the main torii at the front, somehow finding a spot near the rest of my class and a bit out of the way. (A bunch of the Japanese groused vociferously when a tourist tried to find a good spot to photograph...the good spot was basically right in their line of sight, so...) Margot found an excellent spot literally right at the torii--she didn't have to worry about getting separated from a class--
and so caught some really excellent close-up pictures. She's kindly allowed me to use any I'd like.

Aoi Matsuri (May 15), also known as the Hollyhock Festival for the principle decorative motif, is one of the three really big festivals in Kyoto, the other two being the Gion and Jidai Festivals. The imperial procession which is the origin of the festival has been faithfully reproduced since the 6th century, including traditional Heian period costumes. The first part of the festival is the Roto-no-Gi, followed by the Shato-no-Gi. The procession begins at the Imperial Palace in the morning, then travels to Shimogamo Jinja before finally coming to Kamigamo Jinja: first the imperial messenger and his entourage, then the Saio-dai and her suite.

Soume

Before Kyoto became the capital, Kamigamo and Shimogamo Jinja were the family shrines of the Kamo clan, one of the most influential families in Heian-Kyou besides the Korean-descended Hata clan.

In Shinto mythology, the story goes that Tamayorihime, the deity of Shimogamo, was bathing in the river when a red arrow came floating downstream. She put it under her pillow when she went to bed, and the arrow transformed into Oyamakuni in the form of a handsome young man. And you'll never believe what happens. In true, mythological, seductive, transforming-god style, Tamayorihime gets all pregnant, and then births the Kamigamo thunder deity Wakeikazuchi.

Furyu-gasa

Beiju

In the 6th century, a series of disasters devastated the land. When the emperor had his augur perform divination, they came to the conclusion that the deities of the Kamo shrines were feeling neglected (and also in true god-like fashion, throwing hissy fits.) The emperor sent the imperial messenger to perform rituals to sate the angered deities, and the disasters ceased. So, the tradition continued.

In the 8th century, there was an addition to the imperial messenger's retinue. The emperor decided one of his daughters should be given to devote her life in service to the Kamo deities. She was known as "Saio", and is called "Saio-dai" today; this tradition of one of the princesses sent to be the high priestess of these deities continued until the mid-13th century. The girls who are selected to represent her role today still wear the traditional 12-layered kimono.