Even though where we are staying is sort of in the middle of nowhere, the fast train stops here, which means it is somewhere.  This is lucky for us because it makes it a lot quicker to get around the island (Kyushu).  So today we zipped on over to Fukuoka for a couple activities.  The most interesting was the Hojoya Festival taking place at the Hakozaki Shrine.  On the final day of this ancient festival, September 18, birds and fish are released from captivity, in accordance with the Buddhist philosophy of not killing.  As we were two days early, we missed this part of the festival, but were able to enjoy walking around the street leading up to the shrine.  The street was filled with booth ranging from carnival games, to shops selling festival-type souvenirs and beetles (a popular summer pet, though not quite in line with the theme of the festival), and of course plenty of booths selling all types of food.  It was interesting to see what the typical “fair foods” are in Japan.  In the US it’s pretty basic: hot dogs, funnel cakes, blooming onions, maybe sometimes you can find a good place selling some 4-H kid’s freshly cooked lamb.  Maybe all this bores me, but I found the Japanese festival fare to be much more exciting (and enticing).  Perhaps it’s not boredom…I just think the Japanese food is better.  Savory foods on offer included steaming bowls of ramen, teriyaki meat skewers, grilled octopus, corn on the cob, and doner kebab (ok, so that one isn’t exactly traditional Japanese, and I don’t think the Pokemon cakes were either…).  For those with a sweet-tooth, you could stuff yourself out on the delicacies of the endless supply of little filled cakes from the mochi and manju booths, bowls of shave ice, or the aforementioned Pokemon cakes (also available in Hello Kitty).  My favorite of all in the sweet category were the chocolate dipped bananas coated in sprinkles for their creators’ skillful execution in the presentation category.  I need to stop writing about the food though, as it is making me hungry.

festival in the street

The shrine itself was very beautiful.  Hakozaki Shrine is the first Shinto shrine I’ve visited, and there were many new things inside that I have never seen before, such as the purification trough outside (for washing), plaques with wishes hung about (like prayers), and little fortunes tied up in the trees (apparently by tying the fortunes in the trees good one can come true and bad ones may be avoided).  I liked how the shrine exists peacefully behind its outer walls in a forested courtyard.  The building is very simple, lacking the ornate decorations found in Buddhist temples in Thailand and the colorful murals in Korea.  Shinto shrines have no idols like Buddhist temples.  Rather they are more of a place for the kami, Shinto gods, to reside, be petitioned and worshipped.   Shinto is actually the religion that sumo wrestling is associated with, and one of the banners hung around the shrine is similar to that worn by yokozuna, or the highest ranked wrestlers during certain ceremonies.  Shrines are easy to spot by their tori, or gateway that marks the entrance to the shrine.  Hakozaki Shrine had all these features, plus a small room whose walls were covered in gorgeous back-lit paintings.  I think they showed a story of the usual good vs. evil (I couldn’t read the kanji captions).  The artist did a wonderful job of boldly depicting the images with firm lines and clear swaths of color, giving the images a strong presence that seemed to reach past the limits of the paper.