BA・SA・RA, the end of summer

Every year at the end of August, two-day Basara Dancing Festival is held in Nara. This year 42 groups joined. It is not a dancing contest. The participants keep dancing, dancing, dancing and dancing. Long summer in Nara is gone with the end of the festival.

According to a calender, autumn started yesterday, September 1st. During daytime it is still hot. But at night, a hint of autumn in the air can be detected here and there - cool breezes, chirping grasshoppers or crickets under a beautiful moon.

Ceremony of Cleaning Great Buddha

Once a year, Great Buddha at Todai-ji Temple takes a bath on August 7th.
About 150 priests, worshipers and volunteers clad in white gather to clean the Great Buddha and collect at least 10 buckets of dust.

You might think "Is this A Voyage to Lilliput in Gulliver's Travels"??

This is a good chance to see in person how huge the Buddha is! The Great Buddha is the largest bronze Buddhist statue in the world. Originally Buddha statue was cast in 752.

Enjoy Sunset in February Hall!

February Hall of Todai-ji Temple, which dates back to 752, is a popular sunset viewing spot. The hall stands on the hill overlooking Nara City and Ikoma mountains.

The hall is open all day long.

At night, all the lanterns are lit
 and the atmosphere gets subtle and profound.

NARA TO-KAE, Ten Nights Of Lantern Illumination (pictures)

At Sarusawa Pond


Approach to Great Buddha Hall


Near Todaiji Temple


As for the schedule, please refer to
http://narawalk.blogspot.com/2011/08/nara-to-kae-ten-nights-of-lantern.html

Events around Nara Park (August 2011)

Around Nara Park:

Aug. 5(fri) - 14(sun) Ten Nights Of Lantern Illumination (NARA TO-KAE)
See a related journal entry for details: click here.

Aug. 7(sun) Cleaning of Great Buddha (Ominugui)
7:00 ~ 9:30 @Great Buddha Hall in Todaiji Temple
This is once a year cleaning day for Great Buddha. About 120 Buddhist monks and laypeople clean Great Buddha form head to toe. Although the cleaning starts from 7:00am, Great Buddha Hall is opened to the public from 7:30am.

Aug. 14(sun) & 15(mon) All 3000 Lanterns Light Up Day (Chugen Mantoro)
@Kasuga Grand Shrine
Lanterns of Kasuga Grand Shrine used to be lit up every night, but today they are lit up only on certain days.

18:30~ (Aug. 14) Offertory of Bugaku, traditional Japanese court music and dances / (Aug. 15) Offertory of Kagura, Shinto’s offertory music and dances
19:00~ All 3000 lanterns are lit.
 *With donation of 3000yen or more, you can light up a lantern by yourself.
20:30 Gates closed.

Aug. 15(mon) Thousands Of Lantern Lights Offered To Great Buddha (Manto Kuyo-e)
19:00 ~ 22:00 @ Great Buddha Hall in Todaiji Temple
About 2500 lanterns are lit in front of Great Buddha Hall. Each lantern is offered to Great Buddha with a prayer, varying from a health to world peace. This lantern offering started as a way to console the souls of the dead who are believed to be making their summer visit to this world form the other world during this time of a year. Inside the hall, Buddhist monks hold a religious ceremony to pray for the dead and to send the prayers on lanterns to Great Buddha.

Aug. 15(mon) Nara “大”-shaped Bonfire (Nara Dai-monji Okuribi)
“大”, pronounced ‘dai’, symbolizes cosmos. 108 small bonfires are lined to form “大” shape. This bonfire is a popular summer event, and you can watch the fire from mostly anywhere in Nara. Tobihino Field and Sarusawa Pond are very popular viewing places. The fire only lasts about 10 min.

Light up: 20:00~

Around Kintetsu Yamato Saidaiji Station:

Aug. 19(fri) – 21(sun) Heijo Palace Site Summer Night Festival (Heijo-kyo Tenpyo-sai Natsu)
@ Heijo Palace Site
See a related journal entry for details: click here.

Around Horyuji Temple and Nishino-kyo:

Aug. 23(tue) & 24(wed) Special Viewing of Hidden Statue
@ Jizo-do Hall in Toshodaiji Temple
A statue of Jizo, a Buddhist saint for children, is open to the public. This opening is a part of Jizo Bon Ceremony, a Buddhist ceremony to pray for children’s healthy growth to Jizo. The statue is an important cultural property.

Sue
-NARAWALK guide 

Heijo Palace Site Summer Night Festival (Heijo-kyo Tenpyo-sai Natsu)

Enjoy your summer nights at Heijo Palace Site. From Aug. 19(fri) to 21(sun), a summer festival is held at Heijo Palace Site. There will be light installations, parades of people wearing a traditional costume with electric light decorations, food stands, music stages and more.

All Three Days:
16:00 – 21:00 Food and Goods Stands
18:30 – 20:45 Music and Performance Stage
-On Aug. 19, the stage ends at 20:00.
-On Aug. 19, there will be a stage by NMB48 starting from 19:15. (NMB48 is a Japanese pop girl group based in Namba, Osaka. They are one of sister groups of AKB48.)
18:30 – 21:00 Light Installations
-More than 10 light installations illuminate the palace site.
19:00 – 20:00 Parade of Light
- People wearing costumes of 1300 years ago (with electric light decorations!) walk in procession.
- You can try a similar costume that people are wearing in the parade for 500yen (17:00 – 21:00)

Only on Aug. 19:
20:00 – 20:15 Fireworks
-If it rains, fireworks will be postponed to Aug. 20.

Access:
-15 min. walk from Kintetsu Yamato Saidaiji Station
-20 min. by bus from JR/Kintetsu Nara Station to Sakicho bus stop. 1 min. walk from there.
(Take a bus No. 12 or 14 from a bus stop No. 7 at JR Nara Station/ a bus stop No. 13 at Kintetsu Nara Station. 270yen. Only 1 or 2 bus is scheduled per hour.)
-Shuttle buses are planned to run from Kintetsu Yamato Saidaiji Station (South Exit)/JR Nara Station (West Exit) to Heijo Palace Site.

Sue
-NARAWALK guide

NARA TO-KAE, Ten Nights Of Lantern Illumination

 

Enjoy a night time stroll around Nara Park with thousands of lanterns softly lighting your pathways. Todaiji Temple, Kofukuji Temple and other facilities have night time opening hours during this event.

Aug. 5(fri) - 14(sun)
=Lantern Light-ups=
19:00 ~ 21:45 @ around Nara Park

=Night Time Opening Hours=
Todaiji Temple: 19:00 ~ 21:00
-Great Buddha Hall is open. *Only on Aug. 13 & 14.
Kofukuji Temple: ~ 20:30 (enter before 20:15)
-National Treasure House and Eastern Golden Hall are open.
Mt. Wakakusa-yama: 9:00 ~ 21:00 (enter before 20:30)
-Enjoy a night view from the top of the city
Nara National Museum: 9:30 ~ 19:00 (enter before 18:30)
-Special Exhibition “On to India! Xuanzang’s 30,000-Kilometer Trek” is held.
-Aug. 8 is closed.

Sue
-NARAWALK guide

Summer in Deer Park

Fireworks Pickups! (2011)

Expect crowds, traffic jam, summer heat and beautiful fireworks! There are more fireworks festivals than listed below.

Mie: The 59^th Fireworks Competition Dedicated to Ise Jingu Shrine

July 16(sat) 19:25-around 21:15

(Postponed to 17th if weather is stormy)

@Riverbank of Miyagawa River near Watarai Bridge (upper stream side) (10min ride on a shuttle bus from Kintetsu Ujiyamada Station/JR Iseshi Station)

*Shuttle buses from the stations to the competition ground run 17:00~19:30, from the competition ground to the stations run from 20:00 to 30min after fireworks are finished. Runs every 15-20min. Fare: 180yen/person

ca. 9000 fireworks

Osaka: Fireworks Dedicated to Tenjin Matsuri Festival

July 25(mon) around 19:00-21:00

(Cancelled if rains)

@Ohkawa area in Kema Sakuranomiya Park, Sakuranomiya Park ground

ca. 3000 fireworks

Website

Nara: Fireworks Dedicated to the 55^th Onpara Matsuri Festival

July 31(sun) 19:30-20:10

(Go rain or shine; cancelled if weather is stormy)

@Shiba Undo Koen Park (15min walk from JR Miwa Station; walk towards west from the station)

ca. 2000 fireworks

Nara: Uda-city Haibara Fireworks Festival

August 4(thu) 19:30-21:00

(Postponed to 5th if weather is stormy)

@Udagawa River riverbank (3min walk from Kintetsu Haibara Station)

ca. 3000 fireworks

Osaka: The 23^rd Naniwa Yodo River Fireworks Festival

August 6(sat) 19:50-20:40

(Go rain or shine; postponed to 7th if weather is stormy)

@Yodo River riverbank (between Shin Midosuji Yodogawa railway bridge and National Highway Route 2)

Website

Kobe: The 41^st Minato Kobe Fireworks Festival

August 6(sat) 19:40-20:30

(Go rain or shine; cancelled if weather is stormy)

@Meriken Park

ca. 10,000 fireworks

Website(This is a link to last year’s website. Date and Time are wrong, but Map, Transportation and Inquiry parts are useful.)

 Shiga: 2011 Lake Biwa Fireworks Festival

August 8(mon) 19:30-20:30

(Go rain or shine; postponed to 11th if weather is stormy)

@Otsu Port, Lake Biwa(5min walk from Keihan Hamaotsu Station, 15min walk from JR Otsu Station) (Access to Otsu Port)

ca. 10,000 fireworks

Website (Jpn Only)

Kyoto: The 51^st Uji River Fireworks Festival

August 10(wed) 19:45-20:45

(Go rain or shine; postponed to 13th if weather is stormy)

@Uji Bridge area (10min walk from JR/Keihan Uji Station)

ca. 5000 fireworks

Website (Jpn Only)

Nara: The 40^th Yoshino River Fireworks Festival

August 15(mon) 20:00-21:00

(Go rain or shine; cancelled if weather is stormy)

@Riverbank of Yoshino River, near Ookawa Bridge (upper stream side) (10min walk from JR Gojo Station)

ca. 4000 fireworks

Sue
-NARAWALK guide  

Events around Nara Park (July 2011)

Around Nara Park:

July 5(tue) Priest Chogen Commemorative Ceremony (Syunjyo-ki) and Special Viewing of a Hidden Statue

@Todaiji Temple, Syunjo-do Hall (near the Great Bell)

Chogen is a Buddhist priest who made a great contribution in repairing Great Buddha and reconstructing Great Buddha Hall in late 12^th century.

8:00 ~ Commemorative Ceremony

After the ceremony (around 11:00)~16:00 Special Viewing of a Hidden Statue (*Seated Statue of Chogen, National Treasure, 13^th century This statue is open to the public twice a year on July 5 and Dec. 16 annualy.)

July 7(thu) Ritual Ceremony for Benzaiten (Benzaiten-ku) and Special Opening of Three-storied Pagoda

@Kofukuji Temple, Three-storied Pagoda

Benzaiten was originally an Indian goddess of river Sarasvati. In Japan, she is known as a goddess of wisdom, music and fortune. Buddhist priests at Kofukuji Temple used to worship Benzaiten wishing for progress in their Buddhist studies. Benzaiten statue is enshrined in Three-storied Pagoda (National Treasure, around early 13^th century).

10:00 ~ Ritual Ceremony

9:00 ~ 16:00 Pagoda is open for the public viewing. This is an annual, once a year opening day. You can see Benzaiten statue and wall paintings of the first floor. Though faded, there are, in total, 4000 Buddha figures on the wall.

July 16(sat) Pay Respect to Enma Day (Enma moude)

@Byakugoji Temple

Enma is the lord of hell deciding who should go to hell and be punished. July 16 is said to be a holiday at hell; people in the hell get a rest from endless torture. On this day, people in this world pay respect to Enma wishing for health and longevity. At Byakugoji Temple, boiled konjac with miso paste and paper fans are offered to visitors (limited number). On paper fans, the temple’s head Buddhist priest has drawn a picture of Enma.

10:00 ~ Ritual Ceremony

July 23(sat) Special Viewing of Naked Jizo Statue

@Denkoji Temple

Jizo is a Buddhist saint. Jizo statue at Denkoji Temple was sculpted in naked form and wears real clothes. July 23 is an annual day for Jizo statue to change into new clothes. Jizo statue is open to the public only on March 12 and July 23.

17:00 ~ 18:00 Ritual Ceremony to Change Jizo’s Clothes

July 28(thu) Purification Ceremony For Summer (Gejyo-e)

8:00 ~ @Todaiji Temple, Great Buddha Hall

Buddhist priests pray for people to stay healthy during summer. In the beginning of the ceremony priests walk through a Chi-no-wa ring, a fresh green grass rope coiled into a 2 meters wide circle. After the ceremony, everyone is welcome to walk through the Chi-no-wa ring to pray for health.

Around Kintetsu Yamato Saidaiji Station:

July 17(sun) Lotus Flower Ceremony (Renge-eshiki)

@ Hokkeji Temple

This is an annual purification ceremony for summer held at Hokkeji Temple. The ceremony is held in the evening with lanterns lighting up the temple precinct. In the beginning of the ceremony

Buddhist nuns walk through a Chi-no-wa ring, a fresh green grass rope coiled into a 2 meters wide circle. Before the ceremony, a bowl of rice porridge is served to everyone for free. People eat this porridge wishing for health.

17:00 ~ Rice porridge is served.

19:00 ~ Ritual Ceremony starts.

~ 21:00 Doors of the temple close.

Sue
-NARAWALK guide 

Events around Nara Park (June 2011)

Around Nara Park:

June 16(thu) – 17(fri) Lily Festival (Saikusa-no-matsuri)

@ Isagawa Shrine

Founded in 593, Isagawa Shrine is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Nara city. In Lily Festival, Sasayuri lilies (Lilium japonicum) are offered to deities, and people’s health is prayed. A legend tells a female deity enshrined here used to live by a river where Sasayuri lilies bloom beautifully.

On June 16

11:00~ Sasayuri lilies arrive at JR Nara station by a train from Sakurai city, a place where the deity used to live. A group of men carries lilies in a portable alter and walks around the town to Isagawa Shrine. Behind them are dancers wearing Yukata. They dance the dance of lilies with Sasayuri lilies in their hands.

13:00~ Shinto priests report the arrival of lilies to deities.

On June 17

10:30~ Lily Festival, Ritual Ceremony

Sake is offered to deities. Sake containers decorated with lilies look like flower bouquets. Four maidens offer a traditional dance to deities with Sasayuri lilies in their hands.

13:00~ Procession around the town (about two hours)

Miss Lilies and children in traditional outfits walk around the shrine’s neighborhoods.

June 17(fri) Lily Festival (Hana-shizume Sakikusa Matsuri)

10:30~ @Kangou Shrine

Lilies are offered to deities, but this lily festival is known for another offering – a ceremony of Hochodo( a mastery of a knife) called Hochoshiki. The history of Hochodo continues since the 9th century. On this day, a carp will be cut by a skillful master of knife, without a direct contact with the fish and using only chopsticks and knives.

June 19(sun) Thanks-giving Ceremony For Folding Fans (Oogi Kuyo)

@Gangoji Temple

People bring in old folding fans to the temple and burn them thanking fans for their long service. Dances are offered too. Time schedule is not released yet, but every year the time is about from 14:00 to 16:00.

June 23(thu) Thanks-giving Ceremony For Bamboos (Take Kuyo)

@Daianji Temple

According to an old folk Chinese belief, around June 23 is the best time to plant a bamboo. Taking a hint from this folk belief, Daianji Temple decided this day as a day to thank Bamboos. As well as the ritual ceremony (13:00~), bamboo related events are held at the temple ground such as a bamboo flute concert and tea whisk makings. And the most popular thing to do is to drink a cup of Sake poured from a bamboo trunk. This Sake is believed to prevent cancer.

June 30(thu) Purification Ceremony For Summer (Natsugoshi-no Ooharaeshiki)

15:00~ @Kasuga Grand Shrine near the second Torii gate

Before hot and humid Japanese summer, Shinto shrines pray for people to stay healthy during summer. At the end of the ceremony, Shinto priests walk through a Chi-no-wa ring, a fresh green grass rope coiled into a 2 meters wide circle. Everyone is welcome to walk through the Chi-no-wa ring to pray for health.

Around Kintetsu Yamato Saidaiji Station:

June 5(sun) – 9(thu) Special Viewing Of A Hidden Statue

@ Hokkeji Temple

The temple’s main object of worship, eleven headed Kannon bodhisattva statue is open to the public. This national treasure statue is from early Heian period (Heian period: 8c.-12c.)

June 6(mon) Special Viewing Of A Hidden Statue

@ Akishinodera Temple

The temple’s hidden Buddhist statue, Daigen Myo-o, a guardian saint in Buddhism, is open to the public only on June 6, annually. The statue is from Kamakura period (12c.–14c.) and is an important cultural property.

Around Horyuji Temple and Nishino-kyo:

June 5(sun) – 6(mon) Priest Ganjin Commemoration Ceremony

@ Toshodaiji Temple

Ganjin is a Buddhist priest who founded Toshodaiji Temple. June 6 is his death anniversary. Ritual ceremonies are held to commemorate him.

On June 5

9:00~ Offertory of incense and tea by a tea master. Buddhist priest chant while the offertories are made.

16:00~ Ritual ceremony commemorating the temple’s founder

On June 6

13:00~ Ritual ceremony commemorating the temple’s founder

June 5(sun) – June 7(tue) Special Viewing Of A Hidden Statue And Drawings

9:00~16:00 @ Founder’s Hall (Kaizan Mieido) in Toshodaiji Temple

A national treasure statue of Ganjin, the temple’s founder, is open to the public for only three days a year. The statue depicts the last moment of him – he died while sitting in a meditation. Drawings on Fusuma sliding doors are masterpieces by Higashiyama Kaii. 

Sue
-NARAWALK guide 

the Bon fire

Kyoto's Gion festival marks the start of summer (especially for people in Kyoto). With Bon fire, people feel the end of summer is approaching.

During Bon (usually in mid Aug.), ancestors have a summer visit to this world, and with Bon fire we send off our ancestors to the other world.

In Nara, this Bon fire is lit on Aug. 15 at Mt. Takamado. 108 fire beds are lined in the shape of "大(dai)" - a Kanji character that symbolizes "universe." You can observe this Bon fire from mostly anywhere in Nara Park.

Date: Aug. 15
20:00~ light up at Mt. Takamado
20:00~ concert by Nara city firefighters musical band at Tobihino in Nara Park

Also on this day!
19:00~22:00 about 2500 lanterns light up Great Buddha Hall at Todaiji Temple
* free admission to Great Buddha Hall during light up

Also on Aug. 15&14!
19:00~21:30 more than 2000 lanterns light up the precinct of Kasuga Grand Shire

Before going to these traditions, get to know the city and roads while the sun is up -by joining morning Nara Walk tours!

Sue
-NARAWALK guide