Yoshihiro Ishida
Owari Tsushima Tenno FestivalAt first, I would like to focus on why this festival was named Tenno Festival. It is
named after GozuTenno, the deity enshrined at Tsushima Shrine. GozuTenno wasoriginally the guardian deity of the Jetavana Monastery in India who came to Japanand temporarily transformed into Bhaisajyaguru(the Buddha of healing and medicine),enshrined as a god that protects worshipers from epidemics.Suijyaku(temporarytransformation) is an idea of Shinbutsu-Shugo(syncretism of kami and Buddhas) which
involves Buddhas from Budhism, a religion which was brought to to Japan, taking theappearance of indigenous Japanese deities. With this, I would like you to know at firstjust how interesting Japanese festivals are. It is my hypothesis that this religious
outlook of the Japanese, the syncretism of Buddhism and kami worship which serves
as the foundation of their form of polytheism, worked to restrict the spread ofmonotheistic religions, such as Judaism, in Japan.
Next, I would like to focus on the fact that this festival is river based. The idea thatwater is the source of every living body has probably been existing since primitivetimes. This is why the deity Seoritsuhime (the water god) appears in Japanese
mythology. There is the Japanese saying of mizuninagasu(forgive and forget, lit. letflow in the water). It is thought that the idea of rebirth stems from the reconstruction ofIse Shrine, where people participating in the festival let defilement flow in the river tomake a fresh start.
The most important Shinto ritual of the Tsushima Festival is called miyoshiduring
which deities descend to sacred reeds bundles. The night ceremony for welcoming thedeity is held, and after the morning ceremony for sending off the deity is completed,the miyoshiritual,which places the reed bundles that took on the burden of thedefilement of worshippers into the river, is conducted only by shrine staff.
The night ceremony for welcoming the deity attracts tourists. When the summer sun
disappears from the evening sky, light can be seen coming from the paper lanterns
found on the four danjiribune (festival boats). In the veil of darkness, the boats sway
gracefully on the calm surface of the river. The movement of the danjiribune seenfrom a distance appeared as if it were animation, representing the perfection of “slowculture.”
Although I will talk more about the festival’s musical accompaniment when I speak
about a different festival, I will just say here that there is a wide variety ofaccompaniment that differ according to location and festival with hogaku (traditionalJapanese music) serving as the standard form. It is best to think of the festival’s
musical accompaniment as being a type of dialect rich with diversity.
Incidentally, this festival was originally held on June 14th and 15th. However, uponchanging from the lunar calendar to the solar calendar, it started to be held on thefourth Saturday and Sunday of July. I feel somewhat against this change in dates.

Although I am not bothered by the differences between the lunar and solar calendars, Iobject to the idea of holding the festival on Sunday. It was set forth by the Old
Testament of the Holy Bible that people would work for six days and rest on the final
day of the week. However, since seven is a significant number in relation to theoutlook on the universe in the Orient, I decided to let go of my obstinance.
Scholar KunioYanagita said, “The most important change in Japanese festivals is theemergence of groups calling them spectator, namely, people among the participantsthat do not share any related religious faith and those who only see this event from anaesthetic point of view so to speak. The meaning of matsuri has evolved from“enshrine” to “pray” before becoming “festival.” The majority of festival spectators
probably do not think about why the festival is being held or who is behind its
management.
However, Tsushima Tenno Festival, which boasts a 600-year history, serves as proof
that the faith Japanese have in ancestral worship is very strong.