Official
Reitaisai festival of Sumiyoshi, wisteria flower
Sumiyoshi-jinja Shirine sits at 1-chome Tsukuda, Chuo-ku. The divine spirit of Sumiyoshi Mikami, Empress Jingu and Ieyasu Tokugawa is enshrined here. The flat on the torii gate is made of pottery.
Have you ever heard such a pair of words?
"Kameido of Endo, Tsukuda of Kondo"
Kameido Tenjin in Koto-ku is one of the most famous places for cherry blossom viewing in Tokyo. Until May 5 this year, the “School Festival / Fuji Festival” is being held.
In contrast to Kameido, a famous wisteria spot located far from Edo Castle and Nihonbashi, the nearby wisteria spot is Tsukuda Island.
Looking at the famous spots of the Edo period, I found the description "Sumiyoshi's Reitaisai festival, Wisteria Flower".
Sumiyoshi-jinja Shirine in Tsukuda seems to have been a famous place of wisteria since ancient times.
Even today, there is a wisteria trellis on the grounds of the shrine.
The wisteria Hanabusa is never a big one.
Still, when you are in the wisteria trellis, the sweet scent tickles the nostrils through the mask.
In the basin, stone basins are placed to rinse and purify hands and mouths. It was dedicated in Tempo 12 (1841) by a cotton wholesaler in Edo, Shirako-gumi. The Shiroko-gumi belonged to the large shops Echigo-ya, Shirakiya, Daimaru, etc.
Tsukuda Island was built in the early Edo period by reclaiming the tidal flats (approximately 180m) square at the mouth of the Sumida River.
Fishers from Tsukuda Village, Settsu Kuni, who had a connection with Ieyasu Tokugawa, accompanied them when they entered Edo, were granted fishing rights, reclaimed Tsukishima, and moved to Japan.
Sumiyoshi-jinja Shirine was founded in 1646 on Tsukuda Island, which occupies a key point in Edo Minato, as a guardian deity for maritime safety and travel safety.
There is a relief sculpture in the space of the basin. In the back of Tsukuda's passing scenery, you can also see the lighthouse of Ishikawajima.
The means of transportation to Tsukuda Island is a hand boat.
On the island floating on the sea, wisteria flowers bloom.
The process of traveling by boat has created the effect of forgetting the hustle and bustle of everyday life even if it is nearby, and it may have enhanced the taste of wisteria cherry blossom viewing.
The difficulty of keeping and connecting tradition
Well, Reitaisai festival of Sumiyoshi has been postponed again this year.
Katsuharu Tsukuda has just told me on the correspondent blog at 15:00 on April 14.
Before the postponement of Reitaisai festival was decided, posters were placed on the streets of the town.
Recruitment of young people of Sumiyoshi Tsukuda, who are involved in the operation of Reitaisai festival.
The poster has a two-dimensional code, and I was able to grasp the outline of the festival by holding it over my smartphone.
I was able to feel a deep feeling for those who applied.
※From Hiroshige Utagawa "Hundred Famous Edo Views" to "Tsukuda Shima Sumiyoshi Festival". There is a large banner of the festival in the center, and you can see the large portable shrine being carried into the sea by naked young people.
The young recruits are not only active on the day of the festival, but will take about three months before and after Reitaisai festival to carry out the joint operation of the festival, from preparation to clearing.
At Tsukuda moat, where Tsukuda Kobashi is built, the pillars of the large banner and the "daki" supporting it are buried in the water, waiting for the festival to come.
One of the preparations for the festival is the work of digging a large banner from underwater.
Dig the mud to the buried point, and remove the pillars of six large banners with a length of nearly 20m using heavy equipment.
It's not an easy task.
And assembling work to make a big banner.
It will not be feasible unless each power is gathered under the controlled command.
A portable shrine is displayed at the Tsukuda Machikado Exhibition Hall, where you can experience the local culture of Tsukuda through photos of festivals and Bon Odori.
We will decorate portable shrine and lion heads and celebrate the day of the festival.
The whole body is fine, dynamism, shouts rise, and sweat is blown away.
Recognize each other's roles, work together, and enjoy in tension.
Collaborative work including cleaning up.
Human relationships cultivated by spending a lot of time.
"A friend of the festival, he was another person in this time."
Scenery of the cruise of the Sennuki Mikoshi displayed on the fence of Tsukuda moat. My body is getting rid of it.
The reality of declining birthrate and aging is making it difficult every year to protect and connect traditional events and cultures that have been around for a long time.
I believe that opening up opportunities for new residents to participate in traditional event and creating an environment where they can work together will be a way to overcome these difficulties.
Experience the pride and joy of being a bridger to the next generation will increase the number of people who sympathize.
Now, under the COVID-19 pandemic, activities themselves are greatly restricted.
The degree of difficulty has become even higher. But
I would like to wait for the year when Sumiyoshi Tsukuda's annual festival was postponed, looking forward to the day when it can be held.
※ Top 100 Views of Edo "Tsukuda Shima Sumiyoshi Festival"
From the Digital Collection of the National Diet Library