The culmination of the fall matsuri season here in Fushimi is the Misu Jinja matsuri in my neighborhood. It is quite an event. It starts with a gigantic torch that is lit on fire and carried along Takeda Kaido. It ends with the shishi in the morning and o mikoshi in the afternoon and evening. I wasn’t even planning on joining the matsuri this year, but…Once the time came around, I just couldn’t pass up the chance to participate. We started at 6:30 am and ended at 9:30 pm. It turned out to be quite an experience!
Getting ready for the day's festivities
This is the chochin for our neighborhood.
Can you tell the difference between the male and female shishi?
Finally, a water break!
Riding atop the shishi! Hiyo silver, away!
The o mikoshi is really pretty. But it's really heavy!
K and J in front of the shishi
Putting the shishi to bed for another year. See you next year!
It was a long day, but very satisfying. I’m looking forward to it again next year.
