Changing of the Gods: Mt Tsukuba’s Onzawari Ceremony (Every April and November 1st)- revisited
At 877 meters it is not very high or majestic. But for those of us who live on the vast (by Japanese standards, of course!) plain to its south, the slightly crushed M figure of Mt Tsukuba is like a trusty old friend, always reassuring us of where we are and helping us get our bearings when we are lost. Its forested slopes put Japan’s seasons on display while on the flatlands below the greenery has been disappearing at a frightening pace and snow accumulation has become a most rare occurrence.
For the Japanese, Mt Tsukuba has also been a sacred mountain since time immemorial. Its peaks are where the ancestral Gods of Japan, Izanagi and Izanami, are enshrined. The mountain has attracted many holy men over the years and during the Edo Period (1600-1867) a temple was built half-way up its southern slope to protect Edo castle from the unlucky North-Eastern quadrant. This temple, Chuzen-Ji, was generously endowed and supported by Japan’s long-ruling clan, the Tokugawa.
In 1868 Japan underwent revolutionary reforms and the Emperor was restored (again?) to supreme power (in name only, most say). The Meiji government also carried out a probably ill-advised policy (though not as ill-advised as some other policies set in those days!) of separating Buddhism (a foreign import) from the pure, native belief which came to be called Shinto. Thus Chuzen-Ji became what is now Mt Tsukuba Shrine, a place popular to pray for marital happiness because of its association with the mythological couple Izanagi and Izanami.
The priests of this shrine, together with the assistance of local residents, continue to perform the most important of the mountain’s ancient rituals- Onzagawari (御座替り） which can also be pronounced Ozagawari. This ceremony is held twice a year, on April and November 1.
The ceremony at first appears to be a typical Japanese Mountain God festival in which the deities are brought down to the fields in spring to bring abundant harvests, and are then escorted back up to their mountain abodes for the winter.
Mt Tsukuba’s spring and autumn rituals seem at first glance to be of this pattern, but there is a twist. Since the ancestral couple are enshrined on its peaks and the shrine half-way up the mountain is dedicated to family harmony, instead of focusing on agriculture, the Onzagawari emphasizes love and protection of children.
Last year, despite vicious winds, I watched the CHILD god being carried symbollically in a small omikoshi (portable shrine) up the mountain, where it is cool and high above the soon to be sweltering lowlands and the PARENT gods carried down to the center of ( the halfway point up) the mountain. The positions of the parents and child will be switched back again in autumn.
The ceremony begins early in the morning and continues till late afternoon ( rain, wind or shine) as carriers bear the omikoshis up and down the mountain (they use the cable car for some of the way!), often battling the ferocious and unrelenting gusts of wind which this area is famous for in this season.
Maybe the most special thing that a visitor can do on these ceremony days is to cross the sacred bridge (a red, wooden, covered bridge of rare design) which is only open on the first day of April and November.
Maybe I`ll see you there on the 1st ( Thursday). Come prepared for the cold and wind!
Ive also written about a ceremony held at Tsukuba`s ancient and once thriving SILKWORM SHRINE- KOKAGE JINJA:
http://blog.alientimes.org/2008/03/ancient-custom-hanging-on-by-a-silk-thread/
and more on Mt Tsukuba and RAINBOWS in Japanese culture:
http://blog.alientimes.org/2008/12/a-celestial-bridge-for-the-gods-of-mt-tsukuba/
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