Last week was the event I've been waiting for since I arrived here in Yakage. Daimyo. Gyouretsu. There are festivals all over Japan all throughout the year, so I wasn't surprised to discover that there was one in even a small town such as Yakage. Yakage is in a prefecture called Okayama that even locals of the capital city refer to as the countryside. So I'm pretty much living in the equivalent of a small town in Iowa. Not a lot goes on here. So when I learned that there was not only a pretty popular festival in Yakage, but also that I would be able to participate in the actual parade (gyouretsu), dressed as a samurai, I was all about that. I've been counting down the weekends for this moment. And it was so cool to wear the official regalia given to me by the sponsors of the festival (unfortunately couldn't keep it).
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| Group photo |
As you can see there are many different outfits for the people involved in this parade. Quick history lesson. "Daimyo" was the title given to the feudal lords of Japan. As an effort to keep his lords loyal to him and prevent any conspiracies, the shogun made the daimyo spend 6 months in Tokyo and 6 months in their own territory. Wives and children always had to remain in Tokyo as an insurance policy. The reason why Yakage hosts this festival is because Yakage was once a way-station on the Edo Road (Edo was the name
for Tokyo during this era), which all the daimyo would travel along to get to the capital. And of course they would not be traveling alone. They had to bring their entourage along with them.
My rank was that of a "kinju samurai". I wasn't quite sure what that rank entailed at first. Was I be given a fairly important role since I was a foreigner? Or was I being given a fairly meaningless role since I was a foreigner? Asking various teachers at school the next day, it seems like they didn't know what a kinju samurai was either. I guess the exact meaning of the different roles seems to have been forgotten over time. However, according to the principal, based on the amount of clothing I wore compared to some of the other people further up in the group photo, that must have signified some higher status. Warmth = Degree of Importance. In addition to that, the characters for kinju, "近習", display "close" and "learn". So one teacher came up to me and said after doing some research, these samurai were like bodyguards for the daimyo, but then another said they would have been trained by the daimyo. Based on the characters, I'm more inclined to believe they were more like apprentices receiving guidance in the ways of the warrior, or "bushido" and as a second duty had to protect the daimyo of course. I'm satisfied with that. Others were foot soldiers or the official heralds announcing the arrival of the daimyo.
Fortunately, we got these photos in just in time because soon after it started to rain, and we had to don ponchos to protect the clothing. The actual procession was quite slow. For a street that would normally have taken 10 minutes to walk up and down, we were able to stretch it out for 3 hours. I hope they didn't actually march at that pace during the feudal era. This did give me ample time to wave to all my students that I saw as they shouted, "James-sensei da!" And then of course to those who didn't go, or somehow missed me walking by at that turtle's pace, when they asked, "Did you go to Daimyo Gyouretsu?" I got to reply that I was in it and watch their eyes pop out.
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| One of our coworkers from the town hall |
