Matsuri

Japan festivals: Matsuri explained~
Today it's the so called Autumnial National Festive day, namely another matsuri-filled period.
I have always thought of Matsuri as a festival. However having witnessed one myself it seems somewhat description-deficient to call it just that.
Matsuri means both festival and worship, posed as a link between the human and the divine, marking stages in the rice-growing cycle or historical events.
The aim of the matsuri is to preserve the goodwill of the deities (kami). All maturi follows the form of purification by water/fire; and offerings, followed by a procession in which the kami is invoked at the shrine and excorted in a portable shrine (mokishi) to a temporary dwelling where there is entertainment (eg dancing, archery etc). The kami is then taken back to the shrine.
I got woken up this morning by the local shrine chanters clanging metal instruments shifting themselves along the narrow streets of Shimotakaido (where i live, near Shinjuku). A weird, almost comical concoction of feeling was generated: one is excited, uplifted yet repectful.
There you go~it's not always a waste of time reading Annie's blog, it has SOME information in it!