Hachiko
Jul 13, 2004, 05:34
It's summertime, the festival season in Japan. On Shiraishi Island, the festival season is already in full force, with a number of Shinto festivals and celebrations to start off the summer. These are traditions from hundreds of years ago.
One reason we have so many celebrations is because our island is host to so many gods. There must be more gods per square meter here than most other places in Japan. We've got mountain gods, sea gods and assorted guardian gods, who all protect us. And all these gods get their own ceremony. For an island of just 700 people, the god-to-person ratio is pretty good. And with the population decreasing so rapidly, as individuals we should be getting more coverage, so to speak.
Japan Times (http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20040710cz.htm)
One reason we have so many celebrations is because our island is host to so many gods. There must be more gods per square meter here than most other places in Japan. We've got mountain gods, sea gods and assorted guardian gods, who all protect us. And all these gods get their own ceremony. For an island of just 700 people, the god-to-person ratio is pretty good. And with the population decreasing so rapidly, as individuals we should be getting more coverage, so to speak.
Japan Times (http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20040710cz.htm)