Sanja Matsuri

Sanja Matsuri

The famous shrine carrying festival at the Sensoo-ji shrine in Asakusa. Lots of small shrines are carried through the streets of Asakusa to the main temple of Sensoo-ji where they are blessed amidst cheers from a large crowd. There were 2 types of shrine: One was a cart decorated with laterns and branches. Aboard were musicians and this type was pulled along on wheels. The other type was carried by groups of about 30 people. They chanted in time with bouncing the shrine on their shoulders. Everyone in the team wore the same top to show that they belonged to that group. They all had different idea what to wear as bottoms - some should have worn more! These shrines were decked in gold, with tori gates round the sides and a long tailed chicken on top. This too was designed to make a noise as it was bounced.