Traditional Tokyo shrine-carrying festival returns after six-year hiatus

(18 Sep 2023)
JAPAN SHRINE FESTIVAL

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

LENGTH: 4:20

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tokyo, Japan – 17 September 2023

1. Mid of portable shrine, called "mikoshi"
2. Close of portable shrine carriers
3. Wide of portable shrine and its carriers
4. Close of portable shrine
5. Mid of portable shrine and people clapping their hands
6. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Masataro Monobe, high school teacher:
“This mikoshi was made by a local designer in the early 1920s before World War II. During the wars, it was relocated to the countryside to avoid the air raids, which is why it remains intact.”

7. Wide of portable shrine being brought to shrine
8. Close of portable shrine
9. Pan of portable shrine
10. Mid of musicians
11. Wide of portable shrine being carried into shrine
12. Close of female carriers
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Michele Malvisi, Italian office worker:
“Yeah, the first time I did it, I bled from my shoulders. It was like two weeks of pain until I got well. But now, it’s a little bit easier to stand this kind of pain. It’s really a continuous heat on your shoulders, but at some point, you don’t think about it anymore.”

14. Mid of Malvisi carrying portable shrine
15. Close of legs stepping on ground
16. Close of portable shrine carrier
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Michele Malvisi, Italian office worker:
“The Japanese call it fuinki, the atmosphere. Even if you don’t speak Japanese, if you don’t understand everything, in this community, you feel enclosed, you feel (as) one with all other people, even if you've never (met) them before.”

18. Close of portable shrine carrier
19. Close of festival assistant cheering on carriers
20. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Hiromi Hosomi, officer worker:
“People here have been participating in this festival since they were small, so we share a sense of unity like a family. People who moved away from here often come back for this festival. It’s a truly enjoyable event to take part in.”

21. Various of drum players
22. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Masataro Monobe, high school teacher:
“Mikoshi is translated as portable shrine in English. Typically, people can only meet the gods when they pay a visit to shrines, but mikoshi or events like yesterday’s cow festival, allow the gods to come visit people instead.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tokyo, Japan – 16 September 2023

23. Wide of spirit of the god being transported
24. Various of sacred cow walking through town

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tokyo, Japan – 17 September 2023

25. Wide of portable shrine departing shrine
26. Wide of portable shrine being carried
27. Close of lantern promoting festival
STORYLINE:
LEADIN:

Celebrating the 1,165-year anniversary of the descendant of a god, a Tokyo shrine is playing host to a grand portable shrine-carrying festival, bringing together residents across the sprawling metropolis.

The festival, a tradition observed once every five years, is making a significant comeback after a six-year hiatus - cancelled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

STORYLINE:

The highlight of the event at Ushijima Shrine in Tokyo, is a procession of 48 mikoshi - sacred portable shrines - borne on the shoulders of several hundred festival participants, collectively making their pilgrimage to the shrine.

Some of these mikoshi have endured the tests of time, surviving World War II air raids and the devastating 1923 Great Kanto earthquake.

“This mikoshi was made by a local designer in the early 1920s before World War II," explains participant and high school teacher, Masataro Monobe.
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