2012年9月23日 15:12
Sen ryō ga tsuji.
On Friday evening, as I was reading in my room, I heard the sound of a drum approaching and children giggling and chattering. I quickly went downstairs, as I was certain something interesting was about to happen. And there they were, dozens of little children and their parents, all of them holding lit paper lanterns, following the enchanting sound of the drum. I remembered that Adachi-sensei had told me about an approaching holiday, celebrating the day when a company would gather all the money earned throughout the year in a special box, called sen ryō bako. But I wasn't exactly sure as to the real meaning of the holiday, because it's still not very easy for me to understand Japanese, except for simple sentences. I tried to look it up online, but couldn't find anything, because I hadn't remembered the exact name.
So there it was, the next day. All the houses on Omiya street were dressed up as I hadn't seen them before, decorated with beautiful noren and paper lanterns, with the characters that read senryō ga tsuji written all over. All the stores had put their best merchandise on display, and elegant ladies, some even dressed in beautiful kimonos, as well as curious passers-by and foreign tourists were bustling around the displayed goods, enthused by the special offers and discounts.
A wadaiko group was performing on traditional Japanese drums, and the participants to the festival were able to enjoy tea ceremony demonstrations and traditional meals, or to tour the beautifully preserved historical buildings on the street. Tondaya was also stirring with visitors. At various moments during the day, children and men dressed in traditional attire paraded all along Omiya-dori to the Seimei Shrine, located nearby.
I asked around more, and I found out that the festival is holding its 10th edition this year, celebrating the cultural heritage of Nishi Jin, the textile district of Kyoto, its traditions and history. During the Edo period, the area of Omiya-Imadegawa was called sen ryō ga tsuji , because the stores located here used to deal with more than 1000 ryō of raw silk and thread throughout every single day. (A ryō was a Japanese gold piece, and it was also used as a unit of measure for weight, about the same as 16.5 grams.)
And I didn't even have to move more than 200 meters away from the house to experience all this! Kyoto is really an amazing city.