Sunday, August 5, 2012

Masks of Shikoku


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During my Shikoku Pilgrimage I actually visited far more shrines than I did temples. One of the things I was hoping to see at the shrines were masks but I was disappointed that compared to shrines in my area or in Kyushu for example there were actually very few masks. These first ones I posted before in the post on Ichibacho Hachimangu, and they remain the strangest looking masks Ive seen in Japan.

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On Day 4 at a shrine in Tokushima City I found this Sarutahiko mask.

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After my typhoon adventure in the mountains of Tokushima I was invited into a shrine matsuri near temple 22 Byodoji. One of the village men modelled one of the small Sarutahiko masks they had.

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On the next day I reached the Tokushima coast at Yuki and found this pair of Oni at a shrine there.

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2 weeks later after having walked all the way through Kochi I came across this fine pair of Tengu masks.

1 comment:

  1. Hello Ojisanjake.
    I check in with your blog periodically and I love your photos. I lived in Hanoura, Tokushima just down the road from Tastue temple. Your photo of the Oni in Yuki town reminded me that I attended an "oni" festival there in September during my first few months in Japan. I was taken by a local friend who had grown up there. I can't remember too much about it but the local kids were all dressed up like red and green oni dragging long lengths of bamboo!

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