TsukuBlog
The Fun-Filled Fertility Festival (with nothing left to the imagination)- HEISANBO – in Kasumigaura City`s Ushiwata
4 May, 2021
By Avi Landau
The women who plays OKAME ( Heisanbo`s wife) is all dressed up and ready to go
Ritual impregnation as a prayer for abundant crops and human fertility (conception) at the Heisanbo Festival
There are many, who based on their readings of certain books, or visits to Japan which include taking in: the Noh theater , a tea ceremony, or a meal at an exclusive KAISEKI (traditional haute-cuisine) restaurant, are under the impression that Japanese traditional culture is all refinement, elegance, and understatement. The unspoken word, the pregnant silence, the subtle gesture, the elusive symbolism…………
In Ibaraki Prefecture, lovers of traditional Japanese culture usually look forward to the period between mid- April and early May. First there is the excitement of HANAMI ( Cherry blossom parties) and then there are the amazingly extravagant carp streamers ( koi nobori), which are raised up at the homes of families with boys, to be admired- and photographed.
Carp streamers fly over the nanohana and peach blossoms in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture
Sure, you can see plenty of carp streamers ( of a more modest scale) and other childrens Day decorations anywhere you go in Japan in this season. But before May 5th, there could be no better way of savoring this season than taking a drive or a bike-ride in the Ibaraki countryside. You are sure to see plenty of this area`s abundant, breathtakingly large and colorful koi nobori waving proudly against the blue sky. It is quite a spectacle!