Sanja Matsuri is one of the most beautiful and popular Japanese holidays, during which the Buddhist goddess of mercy Kannon and the grandiose Sensoji Temple are celebrated. Like most holidays in Japan, it is a crowded and colorful parade through the streets of Tokyo.
The festival of Sanja Matsuri, translated as a temple procession, is celebrated in the Japanese capital on the third weekend of May. The main action of the festival takes place in the Asakusa area, where there are two main Buddhist temples in Japan - Sensoji and Asakusa.
The celebration begins when the high priest of the Asakusa Shrine performs a ceremony symbolizing the relocation of the shrine to a miniature version of the shrine (mikoshi). These copies are made of ebony, decorated with statues and gold, and some of them weigh about 220 kg. To carry one such heavy copy, at least 40 people are required at the same time.
The Mikoshi of this and other temples during the festival is carried on palanquins by hundreds of people along the streets of the city, from time to time replacing each other. This is believed to bless the entire city and bestow mercy on it. Residents of the city carry those mikoshi whose temple is located in their area, and in order not to get lost in the crowded crowd, each of the groups dresses in the national clothes of their area.
The procession starts moving through the streets of Tokyo at 8 am from Asakusa Shrine and returns there at 8 pm. The festive procession is attended by dancers, geisha, city officials dressed in national costumes, and ordinary residents of the city, and it is led by representatives of the oldest Sensoji temple. Participants sing hymns of praise, and musicians play tunes composed especially for this holiday.
A special picture is presented by the local mafia group - Yakuza. On this day, its participants openly demonstrate their bodies with beautiful tattoos applied to it, which is usually prohibited by strict Japanese laws.
The Sanja Matsuri celebrations start on Thursday and end on Sunday. First, the mikoshi are taken out of the main temples of the capital, and then from all the others, so their number increases with each day of celebration. The festival is attended by about 2 million people annually, including locals and tourists.
