神待祭, Kamimachi Matsuri meaning waiting for kami festival, is an event held at our local shrine late every year. It is a festival to, with a bonfire, welcome the kami, god, who is said to return home from Izumo that night. We have never participated before, but since our son is growing up and had never experienced a proper bonfire, we decided to make a visit as the darkness descended. When we arrived we were invited to pray at the shrine before being offered a drink of sake and some small dried pieces of food. After that everyone had home made oden together, a very tasty Japanese style hot pot with big pieces of for example daikon, konjac and egg, all boiled in soy-flavored dashi broth. It is a very tasty and popular winter dish in Japan and I have come to really love oden.
Then it was time to light the fire. Our son was very excited and reverently looked at the flames as they grew. The kind people organizing the event helped him to participate in creating the fire, putting dried pieces of wood into the flames. They told me that many years ago the fire had been on the small path leading up to the shrine, but there was an old tree nearby that caught fire and since then the fire is in a safe area of the yard. The tree is still there, standing strong, albeit only half of the trunk is left, bearing witness of the incident.
It was a great night. I enjoy being able to experience these kind of local events, being part of the Japanese culture and meeting the people, hearing their stories. It is one of the things I am very grateful for and love about my life in Japan. Our son liked it too, and didn’t want to leave although it was well past bed time. The people taking care of the shrine kept the fire alive all night. As is tradition. But that is an experience for another year.
