Chapter 180 Final Battle (2)
Qian Xiaoyi rode his motorcycle and slowly stopped in front of an inconspicuous shrine in the street. He looked at the torii gate in front of him and murmured at the plaque above. Said: "Iwama Shrine...well, it's here."
He is now located near Tokyo Saitama Prefecture, which is also within the scope of Tokyo. Although residents of Saitama Prefecture call themselves Tokyoites to the outside world, if you ask urban residents in Tokyo’s 23 wards about Saitama Prefecture, I’m sorry. Most of them They would only get ruthless answers such as "Oh, you know, it's the nearby countryside, right?"
In fact, Qian Xiaoyi also feels that this is true. Less than half an hour after setting off on his motorcycle, the environment around the road has changed from being filled with high-rise buildings to gradually becoming dwarfed, crowded and old. , and even large areas of farmland can be seen beside the road.
But this place is said to be a rural area, but there are modern towns, and it is said to be a city. However, you can’t even see a tall building along the way. The entire county is just sandwiched between the two, and it is a bit embarrassing to be neither up nor down. . Therefore, Saitama Prefecture is synonymous with "rustic" and "boring" in the hearts of Japanese people. Generally speaking, it is just like the urban-rural fringe of a small place, which is in huge contrast to the bustling urban areas of Tokyo.
The street where he is now is crowded with tourists wearing yukata, and many small stalls have been set up on both sides of the street. There are activities such as shooting guns, fishing for goldfish, and throwing darts. The snack stalls sell traditional foods such as rock candy apples and fried noodles, as well as marshmallows, ice cream, and chocolate bananas. It looks dazzling and has a very festive atmosphere. There will be even more people at night.
Which festival is it? It is the famous Bon Festival. Every year in mid-August, shrines in various places will hold temple fairs nearby to celebrate the arrival of the festival. In fact, the summer festival held in Baihu Village was the Bon Festival. , the time when this festival is celebrated in various places in Japan is slightly different due to different places. Some places are in July and some are in August. So if you are a person who likes to travel, you can take a bus to different places in Japan and you can enjoy it in a year. Obon several times.
The reason why Qian Xiaoyi came here was naturally not to go to the temple fair to eat, drink and have fun. Yesterday, he received news from Ashiya Jisuke that the location for the third competition was here, so he rode there to prepare for the final competition.
After parking the car, Qian Xiaoyi carried his backpack and walked into the shrine along the shrine like a tourist, looking around curiously.
There were many tourists wandering around and praying in the shrine. He looked around and saw a young woman wearing a red and white witch costume behind the window of the souvenir shop, so he walked over. Asked: "Um, is the master of the shrine here?"
"The Lord of God is in this temple now." The witch said, "But because he is preparing for the sacrifice, he is not seeing visitors now..."
"I have something to do with him." Qian Xiaoyi pointed at his nose. Asked: "He should have been notified in advance. My name is Qian Xiaoyi, and I was introduced by Mr. Ashiya."
Miss Miko said with some embarrassment: "Well...I'm very sorry, I am the former The genius came to work, but the shrine master didn’t tell me about it, so let me go and ask for you.”
Some shrine maidens are sometimes hired part-time by young women from nearby, who are responsible for selling. For jobs such as amulets and cleaning, she just puts on a miko costume to solicit business. It can be seen that this person must be like this. I have never even heard of Ashiya Kisuke's name, let alone a psychic. .
After the witch left for a while, she hurried back and said, "Mr. Mourning Hall already knows. Please go inside and bypass the worship hall to reach the main hall."
Qian Xiaoyi nodded and walked towards the inside of the shrine with his bag on his back. The worship hall is a building for people to worship and pray outside. The main hall is a place where statues and bodies of gods are enshrined, and outsiders are generally not allowed to enter. The main hall of Iwama Shrine is not big. Under the eaves are hanging ropes that look like thick hemp flowers, symbolizing the sacred boundary. Outside the main hall, a priest wearing a traditional blue hunting coat and a high hat is already waiting. He looked quite young, almost in his early twenties.
"Hello, Mr. Qian." The young priest bowed slightly and said: "I am Yanci from the mourning hall. This is our first meeting. Please take care of me. Mr. Qian looks younger than in the video. "
"Mr. Lingtang, too." Qian Xiaoyi said: "This is the first time I have seen such a young god."
Although he has never seen many shrines. , and the surname of Mr. "Mourning Hall" is really unlucky in Chinese, but there are many weirder names in Japan, such as "Zhukou", "Inukai", "My grandson" and so on. The mourning hall is Mourning hall, at least it sounds like it has something to do with the spiritual master.
The mourning hall Yan Ci smiled bitterly and said: "My grandfather wanted to retire quickly, so he asked me to start learning to manage the affairs of the shrine. I have been really busy during this period... Ah, I'm sorry to let you hear the complaints. , please come here, I will introduce you to the details of the commission."
Qian Xiaoyi nodded and followed Yan Ci to the room in the side hall, drinking tea and talking.
The reason why Yan Ci in the mourning hall is so busy is because he is responsible for this year's sacrificial affairs. Even though the Obon Festival temple fairs are so lively, there are lanterns and snack streets, and even some places have There are dancing and float parades, but Obon also has a more spooky name that everyone must have heard of.
——Hungry Ghost Festival, or commonly known as July 15th, Ghost Festival.
Because Japan began to adopt the new calendar after the Meiji Restoration and abandoned the lunisolar calendar (lunar calendar) from China, the previous traditional festivals also directly applied the days of the new calendar. This is the case for Obon Festival. In some places, the festival is celebrated directly on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, while in other places it is more traditional and does not pass until mid-August, which is closer to the lunar calendar. This is the case here.
Since it is the legendary day when the gates of ghosts open once a year, everyone will carry out activities such as sweeping tombs and worshiping ancestors. Some temples and shrines will take the opportunity to hold rituals to pray for the living and the salvation of the dead.
The same is true for Iwama Shrine. Although they are only a small shrine, the number of worshipers is not as many as those of the big shrines. However, because their main business is to remove spirits, their shrine has a special tradition, that is, in On the day of Bon Festival, a ritual will be performed to attract all the ghosts and spirits nearby, and then perform super purification.
This commission is related to this Obon Festival sacrificial activity.
(End of this chapter)