The Mysterious Tales of Japan

Author : Soha Lase, C-2548

Estimated read time: 5minutes 

The mysterious tales of Japan : 

Japan has a fascinating and multifaceted culture and mythology; on the other hand, it is shaped in the deepest of the traditions dating back thousands of years. Approximately 100,000 to 300,000 festivals are celebrated in Japan.

While the country also has some of the myths which stories are meaningful. Japan is the country where the customs, rules and regulations are followed by each and every person. Children at the very young age are taught values and how to implement it in today’s world. Shinto and Buddhism are two main faiths and religion which Japanese people often practice.

        HADAKA FESTIVAL:

As mentioned earlier there are various festivals in Japan. Festival is referred as matsuri in their language. The most popular and important matsuri is Hadaka festival. So, the people who participate in the festival, mostly are men’s, who wear a minimum amount of cloth, usually just a fundoshi loincloth or a short happicoat and half naked only private parts are covered. These naked festivals are held in dozens of places throughout Japan every year during summer or winter.

The biggest and the oldest festival is the owari okunitama shrine Hadaka matsuri in inazawa. And the most popular one is the saidaiji eyo Hadaka matsuri held in Okayama. Well, this festival celebrates the blessings of a bountiful harvest, prosperity and fertility. They walk in water and later Around 10,000 men’s grab for the pair of sacred sticks.

BELLY BUTTON FESTIVAL:

Next is the hokkai heso matsuri in English called as the belly button festival. Not only men’s but also women’s gather to see the festival. Men come together to admire the display featuring dance who have decorated their bellybuttons to look like a face. Bellies are painted with colorful paints whose looks are funny or evil or like a demon.

PAANTU PUNAHA FESTIVAL:

    Paantu punaha is children festival. In this all the local people dress up as the extremely creepy paantu it is supernatural being covered in mud and foliage.

CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL:

People visit at the various popular places of spots, gardens and parks to view the cherry blossom trees. Thousands of tourists all over the world come to see the beautiful scenario. It acts as a cultural symbol of renewal and hope.

DOLL FESTIVAL:

Another festival celebrated by the Japanese people is the doll festival. which is known as hina matsuri. Celebrated on 3 march every year. This day is dedicated to only girls, specially called as girls’ day. It is held to celebrate the health and happiness of female children and feminity in general.

NEW YEAR:

So, every country celebrates new year. New year is a special time for everyone to celebrate the arrival of new year full of opportunities. It is most important holiday in Japan, but the celebrations are generally quite different from typical western celebrations. In Japan it is called as (shogatsu) so called bon enkai (year – forgetting parties).

Japan is a country of festivals and no matter when you visit, its pretty likely that there’s a celebration or major holiday happening in at least one of the cities. It is often spectacular celebration including colorful costumes and parade floats, great street food, religious worship and traditional performances. This is the part of what it makes such a fascinating country to visit.

MYTHOLOGY:

It is believed that kami is the first form of that humans take after their death. Kami in Japan called as deities or spirits. Kami spirits have the ability to transform into living and nonliving entities. The families in Japan are true followers of customs and conventions associated with the Buddhist and Shinto heritage. Kami is mostly situated at the natural heritage.

Most of the gods and goddesses in mythology of Japan are associated in the Shinto tradition. The first records of Japanese mythology are in two books called the Kohiki and the Nihon shoki. According to Japanese creation myth, in the beginning, there was chaos. No apartment building, no neighbors, no you.

In that chaos, there were particles of light, and eventually, some of that light rose and collected in what would become Takamagahara — or the High Plain of Heaven; the gods’ realm. The darker, heavier particles settled lower and became the earthly realm.

From the light, the three creation gods came to be. The first Japanese god was Amenominakanushi, who was more of a genderless concept than a deity. After them, Takamimusubi and Kamimusubi were born — the first male and female beings.

After, they gave rise to five pairs of sibling-couples (who were brothers and sisters, and husbands and wives), the fifth of whom was Izanagi and Izanami, whose names mean “He Who Invites” and “She Who Invites.”

  Izanagi and Izanami are one of those couples since the beginning of time. After a while, Izanagi and Izanami decided they wanted to create more space to live in. Then, in order to be officially married, they performed a ceremony that involved walking around the pillar in opposite directions, meeting each other on the other side. So, the couple doesn’t have a super harmonious history, and

things really haven’t changed much since.Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukuyomi are three of the most important gods in all of Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion, representing the sun, storms, and the moon, respectively. They were born from the water that Izanagi used to wash his body with after climbing out of the underworld.

Ame-no-Uzume is the Japanese goddess of dancing and revelry, she’s bound to have good music, kooky outfits, and regular plans for dance parties. She even managed to sway the sun goddess Amaterasu once. When Amaterasu hid herself in the cave after Susanoo offended her, Ama-no- Uzume and her husband Omoikane threw a party at the mouth of the cave, hoping to draw the other goddess out.

Amaterasu refused to emerge, though, even as the gods drank and sang and danced.

The above image says thankyou in Japan.These are some of the mysterious myths and tales of Japan. While all the festival celebrated in Japan are amazing and teaches us values , respect and faith, this is what is fascinating about this country. 

References:

https://www.japan-expeíience.com/.../tokyo/events-festivals/hadaka-matsuíi https://www.tíipsavvy.com/japan-cheííy-blossom-festivals https://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/the-belly-button-festival-of-Japan https://en.wikipedia.oíg/wiki/Japanese_New_Yeaí https://en.wikipedia.oíg/wiki/Japanese_mythology https://www.tíipsavvy.com/japanese-festivals-