My Time as a Buddhist Priest

Every year in Yuwa, the locals hold a festival honoring their shinto roots. I took part in this festival by transforming into a shinto priest and participating in the local parade. I wore the traditional priest clothes; a yukata robe covered by more white robes, a black hat, and very uncomfortable wooden sandals called getta. Several international students joined me in this event. We were assigned to help the older men by carrying the portable shrine (mikoshi) as well as very tall staves with banners attached to them.

The female head priestess and her nobly dressed priests began the ceremony with various chants in and around the temple. It's hard to say what they were doing, since it was all in japanese and a dialect that is difficult to understand. In any case, after some time of this ritual prayer and bowing we took our leave and began the hour long parade into town. Many of the villagers gathered outside of their homes and greeted us with bows and smiles. I kept greeting everyone with a "konnichiwa" and a huge grin on my face, eliciting a chuckle from several amused villagers.

We arrived at another temple in the middle of town to commence in more ceremony. This time, all of the priests were sitting in a large tatami room, and at certain times we would all bow toward the shrine. What caught my interest the most was a live katana demonstration by one of the priests; it was almost as if his soul and the sword's were one, and together they danced before us to please the kami and aquire their blessing. I was impressed at the priest's form, speed, and economy of motion.

This ceremony was followed by a delicious bento lunch with beer and sake. Oh yeah, those priests could drink! It was a very humid day, so a little buzz was motivating for us all to complete the our procession through the rest of the town. We arrived at one more small temple, and were given a small shot of sake to drink! One more run through the town, and we finally ended up back at the first temple. We all circled the temple a few times before finally ending the ceremony.

I was completely exhausted by this event; it was the hottest day in Japan so far and the stiff wooden shoes I was wearing were too small for my feet. I am glad I had the opportunity to experience this local custom, and to see such an old tradition still celebrated in this modernizing world. However, I don't expect to ever desire the monastic life or to wear those uncomfortable getta again; I now have a new level of understanding for the pain women endure when wearing high heeled shoes.