An analysis of the formation of the Tenno-sai Shinto festival in Enoshima Island, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan: Viewed through its relationship with ritual spaces

Abstract

Several studies have been conducted on the Matsuri, which are Shinto festivals or traditional local festivals in Japan; these have been focused mainly on folkloristic, sociological and anthropological aspects. The present research aims to analyze the formation of an annually-performed Shinto festival dedicated to a local deity by local communities from the point of view of the relations of the spaces where the rituals are held. The Matsuri starts with local people who will participate keeping away from secular life for a certain period ahead of the festival, in order to purify their souls and bodies. On the main day of the Matsuri, they perform the ritual in a shrine, traditional activities such as Kagura and Dengaku, which are ritual music and dancing performed in shrines, or Sumo wrestling and Yabusame (horseback archery), that are dedicated to their tutelary deity. Meanwhile, a Shinto priest or a representative of the community moves the tutelary deity from the shrine to a mikoshi, which is a miniature shrine. The mikoshi is then carried into the village, to bring the power of the divine spirit to the community. It is believed that renewed energy will pervade the village. Thus, the community reconfirms its relationship with the deity through this Matsuri. We paid attention to the passage of the mikoshi and to the spaces where the rituals are held. This is because the Matsuri organizes unrelated spaces and also influences the social structure of the community. The mikoshi is carried from the shrine to the Otabisyo which is located in the village plaza or on a village boundary, to the beach, to the cultivated fields, and so on. Then, it often returns to the shrine on a different course. Thus, these spaces are linked together and come to form a unity by the passage of the mikoshi. At the same time, the rituals help connect these spaces to the community's daily activities. We aimed to analyze the formation of the festival Tenno-sai based mainly on a spatial perspective. The festival is performed between Yasaka-jinja shrine in Enoshima Island, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Koyurugi-jinja shrine, located on the opposite shore of Enoshima, on the one hand, and the tutelary shrine of Koshigoe area, Kamakura City, on the other. To elucidate our purpose, we investigated the spatial relationship that is symbolized by the Tenno-sai festival, and described and explained chronologically the various elements which are connected to each space on a step-by-step basis from beginning to end. On the day of the Tenno-sai, the festival begins with the main ritual performance in Hetsunomiya, one of the Enoshima-jinja shrines. The participants, mostly parishioners of Yasaka-jinja, carry the mikoshi of Yasaka-jinja around Enoshima. Then the mikoshi is enshrined at Higashi-machi where the parishioners live, after which it is shoved and pushed at sea. Meanwhile, the mikoshi of Koyurugi-jinja is also paraded by parishioners around Koshigoe, and the timing of the passage of the mikoshi by the sea coincides with the Yasaka-jinja's mikoshi. In the afternoon, the mikoshi of Yasaka-jinja comes over to Koshigoe. When the mikoshi of Yasaka-jinja is carried to Koshigoe, the mikoshi of Koyurugi-jinja is already waiting to greet the mikoshi of Yasaka-jinja on the border of Koshigoe. However, parish representatives of Yasaka-jinja and Koyurugi-jinja exchange greetings in front of Ryukou-ji temple which is located outside of Koshigoe. Both mikoshi are paraded around Koshigoe and afterwards reach Koyurugi-jinja. Then, the mikoshi of Yasaka-jinja returns to Enoshima, while the mikoshi of Koyurugi-jinja goes only part of the way. Both mikoshi are pushed and shoved against each other in front of Ryukou-ji during the return of Yasaka-jinja's mikoshi to Enoshima. Nowadays, during Tenno-sai, the passage at sea is performed for both mikoshi; however, the passage at sea of the mikoshi of Koyurugi-jinja is a newly introduced element of the festival. Meanwhile, the passage at sea of the mikoshi of Yasaka-jinja is a reproduction of a traditional belief. According to the folk story, the fishermen in Higashi-machi raised a statue of worship in front of Iwaya, a cave in Enoshima. Then the fishermen enshrined it in Higashi-machi, after which, at last it was enshrined in the precincts of Hetsuno-miya. Thus, the rituals, which are performed at sea with each mikoshi, are different from the point of view of their symbolic meanings. It is suggestive that the statue is connected with Iwaya. We learned that the Iwaya is an important space for fishermen of both Higashi-machi and Koshigoe, because they believe that the statue was originally enshrined in Koyurugi-jinja. This spatial relation between Iwaya and Koyurugi-jinja gave us more impetus to investigate in detail the ritual performances. We observed the space where the greetings of the communities' representatives are exchanged and where both mikoshi meet each other, since this space belongs to neither Koshigoe nor Higashi-machi. Hence, we paid attention to the fact that the ritual is performed in front of Hetsuno-miya, not Yasaka-jinja. We also noticed the fact that the parish representatives of Koyurugi-jinja attend the ritual that takes place in Hetsuno-miya, in spite of the fact that the ritual is also performed in Koshigoe at the same time. The paper describes the above-mentioned spaces observed at the festival Tenno-sai and elucidates the meaning of ritual spaces: Koyurugi-jinja, Iwaya, in front of Ryukou-ji and Hetsuno-miya. It was during early modern times that Iwamoto-in (one of the groups which manage the shrine in Enoshima) assumed control of Enoshima. With an increase in visitors in Enoshima, a positive economic effect had occurred. However, Iwamoto-in excluded fishermen of Higashi-machi from that profit and Iwaya. We assumed that local fishermen would need to keep a spiritual connection with Enoshima and Iwaya. As a consequence, they might have initiated the festival which seems to be a necessity for them. Originally, Ryukoumyou-jinja, a tutelary shrine for Tsumura and Koshigoe villages, was located on the space where Ryukou-ji is now located. Although the two villages originally formed one village, they were divided in the beginning of the Edo Period. The process in which the Ryukoumyou-jinja was enshrined is related by "Enoshima-engi". According to this story, Benzaiten descended at Iwaya, and Ryukoumyou-jinja is thus tied to the goddess of fortune. We inferred from the above that the Iwaya and the mountain where Ryukoumyou-jinja was enshrined designate the same and unique space. At the end of the 18th century, the space where Ryukoumyou-jinja was enshrined became the domain of another village. In the early 19th century, the community in Koshigoe reconstructed Koyurugi-jinja as their tutelary shrine. It is thought that Yasaka-jinja was erected in the precincts of Hetsuno-miya because Higashimachi and Hetsuno-miya were a territory of Shimono-bou (one of the groups which manage the shrine in Enoshima), and the fishermen of Higashi-machi and Shimono-bou coexisted. During Tenno-sai, the fishermen shove and push the mikoshi at sea. They hereby could connect to Benzaiten and Iwaya, because this ritual shows that they obtained the power of Benzaiten. That is, the mikoshi of Yasaka-jinja was given the power of Benzaiten. Based on this, we concluded that these points were important to the Tsumura and Koshigoe communities. They needed compensation because they lost Ryukoumyou-jinja which was tied with Benzaiten of Iwaya. According to traditions remembered by the villagers, the god of Yasaka-jinja had been originally enshrined in Koyurugi-jinja. This god was raised in front of Iwaya, and was afterwards enshrined in the side of Hetsuno-miya, so that they could reconstruct the relation between Ryukoumyou-jinja and Benzaiten. The reason why the ritual is performed in front of Hetsuno-miya is to confirm the relation with Benzaiten or Iwaya for the community in Koshigoe and Tsumura. After the passage of the Yasaka-jinja's mikoshi at sea, this mikoshi comes to Koshigoe. We supposed that this ritual is meant to show Benzaiten coming to Koshigoe. Thus, it is thought that based on the spatial relation shown in "Enoshima-engi"' the community in Koshigoe and Tsumura could create the Tenno-sai more positively to imply a connection with Enoshima. Although the processes were different, in Higashi-machi, Tsumura and Koshigoe communities agreed at the point that they needed a connection with Iwaya or Benzaiten. Thus the Tenno-sai, which was handed down to the present time, was created at the end of the 18th century and the early 19th century. Considering the spaces of the Tenno-sai where the rituals are performed, we described the geographical context of shrines and temples, the inhabitants and their struggle with power, the economic effect of tourism activities, the landscape occupation pattern and the relation of social groups, which led us to a geographical analysis of the formation of Tenno-sai. Consequently, we can learn that based on the spatial relations shown in "Enoshima-engi", the local communities created the Tenno-sai replacing the spatial elements.