Festivals
Shinto festivals are celebrated at shrines. They generally combine solemn rituals with joyful and even vulgar celebration.
Photo shows a mikoshi, a sedan chair for kami, at a festival in Asakusa, Tokyo, with the Senso-ji pagoda in the background.©
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- Shinto festivals - Matsuri
- The word 'matsuri' can refer to any occasion for offering thanks and praise to a deity at a shrine.
- Oshogatsu (New Year)
- Shrine attendance is huge for this festival. People go to thank the kami and make resolutions for the new year.
- Seijin Shiki (Adults' Day)
- A coming-of-age celebration.
- Haru Matsuri (Spring festivals)
- Springtime is an occasion for many festivals, often centred on the planting of crops.
- Aki Matsuri (Autumn festivals)
- Autumn is a time to thank the gods for a good harvest.
- Shichigosan
- A festival in which parents give thanks for their children's lives and pray for their future.
- Rei-sai (Annual Festival)
- This is celebrated on a date particularly relevant to the shrine where it takes place.
