Kangensai Festival

The Kangensai Festival is Itsukushima Shrine’s most important event of the year, with roots going back to Taira no Kiyomori’s reconstruction of the Shrine in the 12th century. Kangen is instrumental music, as opposed to accompaniment for dances, performed on the wind, string and percussion instruments of the ancient Imperial court. It is by some accounts the oldest form of orchestral music in the world. Kiyomori almost certainly brought such entertainments, performed on boats, from Kyoto, and they’ve been an integral part of the Shrine’s cultural life ever since. For the festival, three boats are lashed together with a temporary roof to from the Gozabune (Goza boat). The boat is draped with lanterns, valuable swords and pikes, and a sacred mirror is placed at the stern. For the faithful, the boat also carries the deities of the shrine, who arrive in a palanquin. On the boat, kangen performers start playing their haunting music around dusk as fires begin to appear around the shrine. Three boats arrive from the mainland shore, and the Gozabune follows them out, departing beneath the Otorii gate. As the boats move out over the water, bonfires are lit onboard, and the music continues to drift to shore. A host of other boats also gather, including fishing vessels from other prefectures, the sea becoming so crowded at times that the visiting boats have been called the “thousand boat attendants” of the festival. The gozabune carries the deities of Itsukushima first to Jigozen Shrine, on the mainland, and then to several smaller shrines before returning home, usually after midnight. Arriving at the shrine, the Gozabune performs three turns as the kangen musicians reach the climax of their performance, and the large crowd cheers the safe return of the goddesses from their journey.

More Info.:
The Otorii Gate of Itsukushima Shrine
Bugaku
Itsukushima Shrine
The Tamatorisai Festival
The Chinkasai Festival
Making the New Year's First Prayers

Matt Mangham

1-1 Miyajimacho, Hatsukaichi

Schedule:
This is widely regarded as one of the best float festivals in Japan, and is especially well loved for its superb preservation of Heian era spectacle. The festival is held on June 17th of the old lunar calendar, which means that in modern times it takes place sometime in late July or early August. Check event schedules, and if you’re anywhere in western Japan at the time of the festival it’s one you definitely don’t want to miss.

Miyajima Tourist Association: http://www.miyajima.or.jp