Buddhist Temple

We had the honor of attending a special ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Shizuoka. I am going to share the layman’s view of what we were able to observe that day. I have to admit I do not understand everything I saw that day, but it was exciting to participate, even on the fringes, of this once in a lifetime celebration.
The care of Buddhist temple is traditionally passed on to a son. Fujika’s grandfather had been in charge of the temple up until his death a year ago. This November, her uncle was officially ‘invested’ in the temple.
As in all special ceremonies, the participants were all dressed in elaborate and ornate clothing. The children, called Ochigo-san for this celebration, were absolutely adorable. They were dressed in purple, ‘blousy’ pants with a multicolored short kimono type of top. They girls wore golden crowns and the boys had golden hats. They were so cute and very serious as they were given blessings from the priests.
The priests from many of the other temples also participated. They were richly garbed in ornately stitched kimonos of greens or purples. The color denotes the rank of the priest, the purple being the higher, “nobler” rank. Her uncle, of course, was in a gorgeously embroidered kimono, purple, with an exquisitely ornate shawl (I don’t know what to call it) wrapped around him (a VERY expensive outfit).
The day started with a procession through the streets with the priests leading and chanting. Her uncle was next, walking under a large, red umbrella, and then the children followed in the parade. Alas, the crowns did not want to stay on their heads so there were many stops to straighten them out, tuck in clothing and getting the sandals back on their feet.
After we returned from the procession, everyone filed into the temple and sat on the small cushions, zabuton, placed on the tatami mats. The ceremony began with a ritual opening of a new gate for the priest and purification. The priests entered carrying incense and or ornate urns and proceeded to ‘pray’ at each corner of the altar. Flowers were spread to purify the temple for her uncle to enter and receive the official orders to be a priest of the temple. They have a special book for the temple which records priests and activities in the temple. (It’s so important to the temple that when there was a fire during World War II, Fujika’s grandmother ran away carrying the notebook with her.)
Check out http://www.geocities.com/zooguide2002/index.htm for pictures.