Ueno Tenjin Matsuri

An Ogre festival in Ninja-Town – no way i would pass on that one! Iga Ueno is famous for being the birthplace of ninjitsu and ninjas (back in the 6th century) and embraces the whole thing as a tourist attraction (with a seperate ninja festiva, museum … and ninja mascots everywhere you look). However, the Tenjin matsuri i went to watch there today didn’t had much to do with ninjas.

The festival  features a parade of nine nicely decorated danjiri floats and a procession of 100 ogres.  On the 23rd, all of these danjiri are exhibited on the streets from 7 pm to 9 pm and then in the afternoon of the 24th they are parading those floats on the streets from 1 pm to 4 pm, and the oni gyoretu (a procession of 100 ogres) goes on sannomachi-street from 2pm to 4 pm. The danjiri are lighted up with lanterns and parade from 6:30 pm to 9 pm through the streets.
On the 25th, a mikoshi (portable shrine) of the Sugawara Shrine, the ogres and all those danjiris parade through the streets from 9:20 am to around 4 pm.

The ogre procession was kind of the highlight for me and the reason i went there in the first place. Each of the demons walks in his own way, scaring or humouring children and visitors. The ogre parade is said to halt plague and dispel illness and bad luck. In Shinto Theology demons have an ambivalent character. There is no clear distinction between good and evil, and all phenomena manifest rough and gentle characteristics. Evil can be transformed into good and vice versa.

Website: The Japan National Tourism Organization has some info on it in English.

Transport: The Kintetsu Iga Line to Ueno-shi Sta., and then walk 3 min – or come by car. The School directly south of the castle is opening one of it’s sport-fields as a parking space.