The Daikoku Matsuri (festival) in held annually at the Kanda Myojin Shrine in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward an includes a variety of cultural events over a three day period.  This year the festival is held from January 10th through the 12th.

On the 10th between 11AM and Noon, a purification ceremony is held where festival participants who have recently come of age pour icy water out of wooden buckets over themselves in Japan’s frigid winter weather.

On the 12th you can view the impressive Hocho-shiki ritual at 1PM where the head of the Shijo-ryu school of Japanese cooking will cut and displayed a large carp using only a knife and chopstick.  The mater chef will be adorned in traditional attire and his hands will never touch the fish during this ritual that is performed upon a large unvarnished piece of Japanese Cypress (hinoki). The Shijo-ryu school of Japanese cooking has a history dating back to the the early 1600′s and defines 55 ways to cut and display a carp.

On the afternoon of the 11th & 12th, you can catch Masakado-daiko (drum beating) performances and traditional Japanese festival music will be played throughout the festival period.

The Kanda Myojin Shrine was first built over 1,200 years ago and enshrines Daikoku, the God of wealth and the household, Ebisu, the God of fishermen or merchants, and Taira-no-Masakado, a powerful landowner who stood up to the central government in the 10th century and gained the respect of the people as a result.  Access the Kanda Myojin Shrine via Ochanomizu Station on either JR or Tokyo Metro.

Image Credit: Flickr, Shrine

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