《Hokotsuki Shrine Taikojishi》 – An authentic festival in a depopulating area –

By the end of the summer, the rhythm of faraway taiko-drums and the whistling of flutes at dusk gives rise to nostalgic feelings.
Maybe may actually be more people with recollections of the sight of ‘the true Japanese summer’ than one might think. I am one of those people.
The first of October 2023. At the Hokotsuki Shrine in the Naganuma-area of Sukagawa City, partly due to COVID-19, this year marks the first mikoshi-togyo (sacred palanquin carrying procession) and taiko-jishimai (Lion dance with taiko drums) in five years.
In the officially designated as ‘depopulating’ Naganuma area – or more specifically in the even smaller Hokotsuki neighborhood within it – there is a festival with a long history and tradition. This was unbeknownst to me, as someone who grew up in the neighboring city of Koriyama. My experience with shrine festivals was limited to joining the fall festival at one of Koriyama’s oldest shrines as an elementary school student, and as I got older, just enjoying the festival stalls. Maybe if I had continued to live there, and if I had been a man, I would have had a stronger connection with the local festivals.

During the fall season, you will encounter many much bigger, more spectacular festivals in Fukushima Prefecture, compared to which the Hokotsuki Shrine’s festival may seem sober at first glance. Yet, I’ve never encountered a festival with such steadfastness. The atmosphere that is carefully crafted over a long time has a kind of elegance you do not usually experience.
I went to Naganuma’s traditional Hokotsugi Shrine Taikojishi festival, to learn about the people’s thoughts and aspirations towards handing down tradition.

Hokotsuki Shinre and the Taikojishi-mai festival only held every few years

Hokotsuki Shrine is located on the Kameizan mountain, which has various theories about the derivation of its name, such as purportedly resembling a turtle lying on its back. Around 2,000 years ago, Japanese folk hero Yamatotakeru was sad to have stopped here on his way eastward, plunged his long halberd (or ‘hoko’) made of false holly into the ground, and dedicated it to the god of war Takemikazuchi, marking the birth of the Hokotsuki Shrine.
The main shrine hall among other buildings on the shrine’s site date is full of architectural elements from the Edo Period (1600 – 1868) making it very valuable, and designated as intangible cultural heritage by Fukushima Prefecture and Sukagawa City. The fact that the shrine is said to date back to the 8th century adds to the shrine’s feeling of sanctity.
The Taikojishi-mai (mai meaning dance) is held on the first Sunday of October of every 3 to 4 years; the leap years of the old lunar calendar.

Naganuma’s Hokotsuki Shrine is an old shrine, even being included in the ‘Engishiki Jinmyocho’-list of historical shrines from the Heian Period (8th to 12th century).

The Taikojishi festival is held over two days.
On the first day, when the ‘yoimatsuri’ (the eve before the main festival) is held, the shrine’s deity is transported onto a ‘mikoshi,’ a sacred religious palanquin. The dark night is illuminated only by the light of the lanterns, making it a very solemn procession.
The second day – or honmatsuri, the main festival – the shrine’s head priest presides over a ceremony, after which the main events take place: the Mikosho-togyo procession of the portable shrine through the premises of the shrine, and the Taikojishi-mai dance . With the traveler’s guardian deity Sarutahiko and the head priest in front, the parade of lion-dancers, taiko drums, flutes and the mikoshi in that particular order move through the worshipper’s path town dispelling the bad spirits, starting from the location where the mikoshi was temporarily placed (the ‘okari-ya’), 200 meters to the main shrine over the shrine’s road, taking about 2 hours.
The children playing the taiko drums wear special make-up and are dressed in colorful outfits in yellow, light blue, and pink. The taiko drums are also adorned with abundant flower decoration, which is a tradition said to date back to the Genroku period (1688 – 1704).

Hundreds of flower decorations, attached to thinly split bamboo stalks, are stuck onto the roofs of the taiko floats. After the festival has come to an end, these are handed out to the spectators to bring good luck.

Taiko performance by children

Preparations for the Taikojishi-mai commence about a month before the start of the festival. The children and adults assemble in the local community centers and practice from the afternoon until late at night on weekdays. The great taiko drums and dances are done mainly by middle school students, while the elementary school students join in with the smaller taiko drums.
Apparently, most of the elements of the festival such the dances and taiko are passed on by word of mouth. The children learn the adults’ singing and the rhythms by ear, and practice along using their bachi (straight wooden sticks used on taiko drums) to really ingrain the dance into their very bodies.
Every time a performance – which has three stanzas – is completed, the next performers take over and start all over again. For the two hours it takes for the mikoshi to arrive the shrine’s main hall, these three verses are constantly repeated.

A middle school student banging the great taiko drum, adorned in bright colorful attire

The performance – with its very particular melody and key – is played while dancing

A one-horned shishi

A shishi (legendary lion protector)-head with only one single horn. From the base of the head is draped a large, time-worn cape, large enough to cover 6 dancers, to form the shape of the dancing shishi. They use bamboo to raise the cape further into the air, making the shishi’s body no less than 2 meters in height. Rather than moving along with the beat of the music, the shishi dancers move their legs along with wild, horizontal shaking. This squirming movement of many legs is why it is also sometimes referred to as the centipede-shishi.

The single horn and wild horizontal movement is characteristic of this Taikojishi.

The shishi is brought to life by 8 people underneath the cape; 6 dancers performing the shishi’s dance, and 2 more keeping the cape up with the bamboo poles.

What the festival brings to the regionhishi 

From the festival only taking place every three years according to the old lunar calendar, to the assignment of a ‘night watch’ to take care of the mikoshi through the night before the main festival: a big characteristic of the festival is how the preparations have been passed on through the generations. Mr. Matsukawa of the festival’s preservation association explains the meaning and reason behind continuing the old-fashioned ways, even those practices that could be made much easier nowadays.

“The festival is for the benefit of the shrine’s deity. However, thanks to the festival the Hokotsuki area’s people all come together as one. This is one important purpose. If we wanted to turn this festival into ‘an event,’ we could make the preparations easier and more simple, but I believe these disorganized, difficult preparations are what bring the people together. By practicing for a full month, the kids develop strong ties with the members of the preservation association, which I believe is important for the area.”

Yuji Matsukawa of the Hokotsuki Shrine Taikojishi Preservation Association

Carrying on the Taikojishi of a depopulating area

The Naganuma area was designated as ‘depopulating’ in 2022. The Kinosaki-area, adjacent to Hokotsuki, used to host a mikoshi-festival at the Yakumo Shrine, but it was discontinued due to a lack of people to pass the tradition on to.
In the past, the rules for participating in Hokotsuki’s Taikojishi were ‘being a man from Hokotsuki-area, and first sons only.’ But nowadays these rules have been scrapped, and especially the children performing now take on their roles regardless of gender. Head of the preservation association Mr. Matsukawa thinks it is time to consider welcoming non-Hokotsuki residents and people with an interest in the festival as well.
The festival belongs to the local community, so even without giving up the things they cherish most about it, opening it up flexibly, and sharing their treasured tradition with the town’s ‘non-resident population’ (people with connections to the town), is a stance that – in a time where the people have to think deeply about the carrying on the tradition to future generations – will become all the more important.

In 2018, over 20 children participated. In 2023, the number didn’t exceed 15.

For someone like me for whom percussion is a way to make a living, hearing the taiko performance naturally makes me think, “Isn’t there something I can do to contribute?” That is how much power the festival has to draw in people just by witnessing it once.
Three steps forward, two backward. Watching the slowly advancing shishi with all the people is exciting. It makes me feel firmly that everyone in this day and age, in which everything has to be quick and fast, should experience this. I’m already looking forward to the next lunar leap year.

How to see the festival:

The next festival is schedule for 2025.
How to watch the Taikojishi (2nd day, main festival):
There are parking spaces on the premises of the Hokotsuki Shrine. When you slowly approach Kameizan by car along prefectural route 108, you will see a small road running up into the mountains. If you calmly drive upwards on it, you will find a spacious gravel parking lot, with plenty of parking spots.
There are many ways of enjoying the festival, from watching the shishi from the side of the shrine road, walking behind the procession, or going ahead to the main shrine and watching from there.

Address: 桙衝神社／Hokotsuki Shrine: Kameizan, Hokotsuki-aza, Sukagawa City, Fukushima Prefecture (962-0124)
Access: 3 min. walk from the Hokotsuki Shrine Bus Stop (Bus from Sukagawa Station in the direction of Naganuma by way of Yatano.

Reference: 地域文化遺産ポータル／Regional Cultural Heritage Portal
Collaboration: 松川勇治／Yuji Matsukawa (Hokotsuki Shrine Taikojishi Preservation Association)

Translation：Joost Kralt

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