Okay, so I have already been in Japan for three months, and I know this is
a little late, but too bad. I am a busy busy person.
This is actually about
Sunday, when I went to the 'famous' Shiogama Shrine. I had actually
intended on taking a little day trip out to Kinkasan island a couple hours
away to see some monkeys and trees. But, my aversion to using an
alarm clock on the weekends, and staying up until 2 am, had thwarted my
plans. So I figured I would wander over to the shrine to take some
fall pictures and hang out with the few trees that Shiogama does
have.
I started out
only vaguely aware of where the shrine was located, but luckily Shiogama
is small enough that everything is 'that direction'. The entrance is
actually right downtown, but silly me had never noticed before that the
large, traditional Japanese shrine entrance gate was actually for The shrine. Luckily, I saw some Japanese people walking that way so, as
always, I
followed them .
You must climb
up quite a few stairs to get to the shrine, and the walk is actually quite
peaceful. The steps are made from natural stone slabs that are a
nice break from the usual concrete and asphalt. A grandma chattered
at me in some strange language until halfway up, and I was then left to my
own devices. I was looking forward to a quiet afternoon.
Well, I WAS
looking forward to a quiet afternoon, until I approached the first gate
entrance, only to be confronted by a throng of chattering people. I
wondered if this shrine really was so famous that so many people would
come here on the weekend. But then I remembered that Japanese people
only visit shrines for happy ocassions, births, weddings and
festivals. So, I quickly deducted that there must be a festival
going on. This was further confirmed by the dozens of children
running around in Kimonos and Hakamas, as well as the stall selling cotton
candy and power ranger masks. (well, I assume it was power rangers,
could've been voltron.)
I first stopped
just outside the entrance to see a little horse they have stabled
there. There were some children there feeding him with a long
handled scoop. You can't actually reach the horse, you can only use
the stick. I don't know, maybe he eats fingers. But, I quickly
moved on, slightly annoyed after receiving the all too familiar 'who let
the gaijin in?' stare. But their evil plan of ruining my excursion
was thwarted when I went inside and soon realized it was indeed a
children's festival. Shichi Go San (7 5 3) to be exact, a
celebration for girls who are 3 and 7 and boys who are 3 and 5. The
shrine here is famous for keeping children happy and healthy and
abundant. I try to avoid going there too often. But the
families were out in full force, dressed up, with video cameras and
everything. And dozens upon dozens of shiny faced happy
children. And dozens of shiny happy parents who were pleasantly
oblivious to my conspicuous, childless presence. Happily, I was left
to wander at will and watch families exude joy. It was quite
refreshing to be the only foreigner in a crowd full of Japanese people and
receive nothing but warm smiles.
I think my most
poignant observation for the day is the fact that I didn't see a single
child dressed in a kimono plopped down in the dirt. And so many
seven year olds with amazing contraptions of bows in their hair and
not a single strand pulled out of place. They must super glue
it. Which leads me to my question, How do you get a five year old to
wear formal clothes all day without squirming out of them, as well as
getting them to stand still and look pleasant for numerous photos? I
even saw children taking photos. Would you give your seven
year old your own camera and then walk several yards away?
I am also still wondering that if I
had paid extra for the hundred yen fortune, would it have been better than
my decidedly blah fifty yen fortune? Are they allowed to do that?