春日大社（あとその他の）から、挨拶 | greetings from kasuga-taisha (& others!)

「目撃

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how atmospheric... 

oh nara, how I miss you every day. thank you for the fuji kamon pin- you know how much it meant to me. 藤原の神社で祈り出来た事をよく考えて、随喜なの。神様はきっと聞いたと信じ切るよ。

...

I've been reading about miko-san ('shrine maidens'; women who carry out the duties of their shrine) again & I've some things I'd really like to share-

the fuji kanzashi of kasuga-taisha

my information originates from the aforementioned shrine's twitter page; the link to the original post is here. I'll simply be translating some of the info into english for the sake of education & curiosity. & also because I tend to avoid reading things in japanese.

「actually, it works like this」

'a(nother) distinction of the diviners is their fuji kanzashi.

two wires run along the curve of the head like so, & are held in place with pins.

we often get questions like "what's happening?" from (confused) shrine-goers. they also tend to mistake the flowers for hydrangea (lol)'

'

a better view of their kanzashi can be seen below;

interviews with (non-kasuga) miko-san

I'd just like to highlight some of my favourite parts of each article.

'interview with miko-san from the heian-jingu* shrine!', kotocollege

"of all the weddings you've been involved in, are there any guests in particular who've left a lasting impression on you?"

> tatewaki-san: "I feel grateful to know of a family who have held their weddings here for three generations."

"do your dances vary depending on the event?"

> arae*-san: "yes. although there are festivals on the first, fifteenth, and nineteenth of each month, they each have their respective dances. including wedding dances, there are four types. also, the basic dances involve two people, but depending on the festival there can be as many as four, which can be a challenge. the dances last for about 15 minutes."

*heian-jingu is the shrine in kyoto at which the famous jidai-matsuri (or 'festival of the ages') is held. there are many videos of the procession on youtube, which I totally recommend !

*there are many readings for the name 「新居」, none of which I know. from rikai-kun's (<- a browser extension) suggestions I chose 'arae', however I apologise if that's inaccurate.

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'let's have a chat with a miko-san', (fukui branch of the) izumo-taisha shrine

(taking the last four questions- they simply happened to be my favourites!)

"what's been your happiest moment as a miko?"

> "when I was wearing my miko clothing, carrying out my duties, & somebody said "it suits you!" if my appearance satisfies others, then no matter how tough it gets, I feel like I can push through it."

"what about the most difficult?"

> "I couldn't allocate my time very well, & I couldn't figure out the order of precedence for the things I had to do. also, it was hard to have to operate on 1.5x speed."

"from now on, what sort of miko do you hope to be?"

> "I'm going to work towards being a miko who is thoughtful & considerate. I said it a short while ago, but having a broad awareness is expected when you're working."

"finally, do you have any words for those who want to become a miko?"

> "I recommend becoming a miko to those who have stamina & want a job where they're expected to be responsible. even if you're not that sort of person, I think you can master the miko's work naturally. also, those who don't know the etiquette of traditional of clothing are welcome! you only have one life, so why not try doing what you really want to without abandoning hope?"

although her name isn't mentioned in this article, this miko-san was so friendly & sweet! I hope she's well! 

...

the translation for some of this was pretty rough. I seem to be in the ballpark of understanding but my interpretations of the words can be too narrow... which ends up making sentences that are right in abstract concept but pretty far off in execution. I used google translate as a point of reference only to make sure I wasn't leaving out details & I was a little discouraged at how much more elegant & accurate it felt. that said, I really enjoyed sharing some miko-san's stories with you all! I have two more articles from izumo-taisha that I hope to translate & post on my blog, though knowing what I'm like, let's see if that ever happens... on that note, I've been meaning to write another post regarding miko-san matters for a while, but I just ........ lack the energy. I'll endeavour to get around to it, because I'm still interested in the topic.