Meguro sanma festival (9-14-10)

Japan is a secular nation. Although she has mostly been following Buddhism since it was introduced to Emperor Kinmei from King Song Myong, or Seimei of Paekche, in the sixth century, memorial services have come to have only the vaguest religious undertones for many. This reduced popularity of Buddhism is an understandable result after the living standard of the public has shown dramatic improvement. On the contrary in the Kamakura period (1192-1333), for instance, stressful living conditions of ordinary people had them seek hope through the easy access of reciting a prayer to Amitabha to elevate the popularity of the Zen sect.

Just reciting a prayer was the easiest method but therefore accompanied binding power enough to embolden ordinaries to rally up against feudal lords and intimidate them into the mental state of paranoia.

Indeed, the three-time risings of Buddhist peasants against the government of Nagashima in present Mie prefecture between 1570 and 1574--which followed the suppression of temples’ intervening into politics mandated by Nobunaga Oda, the shogun--resulted in the destruction of many other temples, as the famous Enryaku Temple in Shiga prefecture, the base for militancy with Buddhist monks, was destroyed by the military force of Nobunaga in 1571.

However, high taxes and food shortages were fueling the popularity of Christianity to urge the Edo shogunate (1600-1867) to persecute the religion. In reaction, a number of protests were staged against Buddhism from the Edo period through the Meiji period (1868-1912). During the Edo period, with the shogunate’s aim to proscribe Christianity, temples were commissioned to administer people by registering their activities such as traveling, moving and marriage. This restriction also angered people to vandalize Buddhist statues and sutras.

Yet today, Japan is secular. Take dress codes for example. Just on occasion garb connotes a religious inclination incontrovertibly. I, meanwhile, take myself to Tokyo’s city-centers as often as every other weekend, not to wear an expensive outfit, and see other people, including couples, looking better in a designer one.

Through my recent weekends, a question popped out regarding those well-dressed-up people. That is, “What do you all mean to me, by sprucing up yourself every weekend?” I can even implore them, “Please lower the quality of your clothes for me!” Of course, such an outburst would never be heard by anyone. Yet it’s a fact that Japan remains amongst the top economies and its citizens have the right to spend on what to wear. And sure, weekends are supposed to free men and women from wearing formal attire, and this freedom of choice diversifies people’s appearances to help complete the trendy atmosphere in each entertainment place, say, those in Tokyo. Meanwhile, it’s probable that each outfit usually doesn’t accompany any special meaning.

From the universal viewpoint, meanwhile, the general personality of Japanese people is often described as reserved. At a cost to uniqueness, they less likely push their opinions forward unless the situation is right and there is a purpose.

Even if this given stereotypical image of Japanese is true and regular Japanese don’t look so interesting, however, they have a strength in teeming up.

With a look into public places, there is a perceptible sense of safety, which is made by modesty and community-mindedness. Architectural works themselves were built by not only the finesse of construction workers but also cooperation between them, architects and project executives. Those buildings look organized well to underline (relative) peacefulness.

Still, Japan has so many traditions like festivals and a multitude of historical structures, thanks to which the citizens can more easily identify themselves. Foreign visitors can take advantage of Japan’ almost secular, or quasi-Buddhist status, and high safety standards too, when the country has thus lots of attractions, though at present the strong yen is working negatively in tourism.

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Amongst numerous summer festivals which ranged over sorts and sizes is Meguro Sanma Festival. It was held a week ago in Meguro, a three-rail-station distance from Shibuya, one of the most condensed transportation hubs in Tokyo. Set up on an urban street, the source of a mouth-watering smell afloat in the air was sanma, or sauries which was ceaselessly sweating juice on the grills. Hand fans were being busily flipped for allowing the smell to travel far. People bothered waiting and queuing up in long lines to receive delicious dishes for free. A stage of Awa dance close by the section was easing their impatience.

In immersing myself in the festive mood, I first quelled my hunger with skewered pieces of beef. Then, although a saury dish was really a giveaway, a view of long lines of waiting people dissuaded me from joining them. Instead, I bought a cup of shaved ice shot through with lemon juice from the top.

Street vendors who lined the street were selling not only saury-related dishes but several other varieties. They were yakisoba--stir-fried noodles with Worcester sauce--tonjiru--miso soup with pork and vegetables--takoyaki--a small round piece of pancake, containing a tiny piece of octopus--and others, seen in seasonal festivals of Japanese local communities. The sellers kept yelling to draw the attention of prospective buyers. On the sidewalk along the queues, the human-size mascot character of a feudal lord symbolized that in an old anecdote which had made Meguro known for sauries: A feudal lord bumped into a cooked saury, a food for the hoi polloi. It tasted good enough to make him obsessed about the food.

For this season, the implementation of the festival was traced back to the effort of sponsors as Miyako, Iwate prefecture, which transported sauries to Meguro met with a small catch. It was reported that the catch was smaller than half the usual figure and 7,000 sauries, which had been frozen since July 31st, helped make up the preparation. Although a number of saury-featured festivals were canceled nationwide, Meguro Sanma Festival was spared the deficiency and held successfully.

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After the festival, the expensive-looking outfits of passers-by threatened me to head for Ikebukuro and buy clothes. I bought two shirts, a short-sleeve one and a long-sleeve one, and a belt at an apparel shop. The price-tag of the long-sleeve shirt on the shelf suggested 1,900 yen. But at the checkout counter, the actual price turned out to be about 2,900 yen. The discovery was shocking, but I bought the shirt.