Yesterday and today we went to visit some shrines that are big parts of the history of Gokusho machi, and that also have a strong connection with the Yamakasa Matsuri.

To start with...

Kushida Shrine

Where else? This is the shrine which houses the gods to which all of Hakata Yamakasa is dedicated. WHO the shrine actually houses is not really as important as its status as the protector of all of Hakata town. In fact within the shrine grounds there are many sub-shrines and temples dedicated to all sorts of Gods, added and subtracted over the ages... to the local it is "O-Kushida-San", a polite and affectionate way to talk about a building really.

Not only is it incredibly clean and well-maintained (none of your age-blackened wood here!) but it's full of all sorts of historical tidbits that reference its old history. Well, most of those things the Wiki or tourist pamphlet can tell you, so I'll just go through the lightning tour that we did.

The Torii that marks the entrance to Kushida shrine. This is looking out from inside, of course. It's quite a long way from the actual shrine. The right way to approach a shrine is through this gate. All the land beyond it is said to be the God's land, although there's plenty of businesses and cars and houses and things.	Lantern on one side of the entrance Torii. I thought it was all cool and traditional and stuff... the writing says "Panasonic Group". :/
Old houses leading up to the Shrine Building These now house a Folk Museum, apparently. We didn't go in, but the building was very nice.	Lanterns! These decorated all the streets near the main shrine for a really cool atmosphere.
These guys were putting them up. These are all actually advertising messages. Every grand ancient festival needs its sponsors, of course. Most are local businesses, some big companies... my guide wasn't enthusiastic about them but I thought they were pretty unintrusive. At least it's not massive billboards on the side of buildings, like Canal City...	This is it. Arrow marking the starting line. The race begins here apparently, participants will loop inside Kushida shrine before heading out onto the real course.
Auditorium Seating...? Still outside (beside) the shrine, seating is being setup for the main event. I guess it does draw a huge crowd, but I didn't expect seating stands... I guess that nearly-million spectators must watch from SOMEwhere...	Taiko Drum Stages! This is where the drums will start. The race apparently starts on a drumbeat too, although a rope also drops. I LOOoooove the sound of Taiko... I wonder if I'll be allowed to stick around here and listen? Maybe the show will end after the runners are gone though...
The entrance proper! More scaffolding inside... You'll have noticed if you've been to Kyoto or Nara, but Temples and Shrines in Japan are wooden. So old temples and shrines tend to be black with age. It amazes me that wood can last that long, really. When I see places that are clean, shiny and relatively new it always surprises me. Then again, they're gearing up for the biggest event on their calendar...	The loop the racers will do to start their course. This is the bit that counts as thanking O-Kushida-San. On race day there will be a flag (put up after the 1st of July) that participants will loop their one-ton Kakiyama around before heading out. And it's not the only flag to bend around. The other two temples I'm going to see are also designated flag spots, and will involve some tight manouvering on the part of participants. Did I mention how BIG the Kakiyama were? Just sayin'....
Special bitter-sour water and some lovely cranes. I fell in love with these elegant statues so I started taking photos...	Bottoms up! This is to my wonderful host family :) my guide then told me that drinking this particular water was to be done at one cup in three sips. The water tastes awful, but the ordeal of drinking it will bring luck and good health to your family. AUGH. I have to say, I've accidentally swallowed Onsen water that's much wilder tasting than this. But it wasn't delicious by any means. Anyway, for all the luck it's worth!
This wall is apparently part of an old fortification. Either from when Hakata was besieged from beyond, or Daimyo were fighting over it, or the Mongols were strolling into it... apparently there are many bits of fort like this around, using partly what stuff was available.	Some Inari-Torii collected over the years. Inari was the wildly popular god of rice, harvests and of course company profits. You'll see the names of big corporations on these gates at various major shrines throughout Japan, as well as donation dates. Kind of like giving wings to schools and hospitals, I guess? They always look very mysterious though :)
A collection of "representative" shrines...? My guide tried to explain to me about this. A bunch of shrines from all over have been collected here close together. I suppose it saves people having to walk around to find them...? They'll represent all sorts of Gods and (more this-worldly) shrine networks. It's always fun walking through not just ancient, heritage-listed tourist spots but live and working shrines still popular with the locals.	Wishes! Collected around the back of the building. Do you know this story? Purchase one of these from the Miko at the shop counters and you can write your wish in the hopes that it comes true. It's always a fun surprise to find English ones. Conversely, if you get a bad fortune from a fortune telling vending machine (or other place on-site) you can tie it to a tree instead of keeping it to "get rid of the badness". These are on-site at most staffed shrines.
A Kazariyama on Display! ...but not yet. There's a Kazariyama on display all year round at the Kushida Shrine, so if you miss the Yamakasa season you can sample some of the grandeur here. As I'm 90% certain that they also change this display annually, I'll also infer that the reason it is shut now is because the big reveal is on the 1st of July.	And some PROPER o-mikoshi! These are the carrying-Gods-around kind. These too are used by this shrine on certain occasions throughout the year. They're the more ritual, dip-in-the-lake type ones. This reminds you that of course Kushida is not just all about the Yamakasa Matsuri; these could well predate the whole tradition.
The Entrance Torii lit up in the evening. This was on the way home from work, many hours later. Lovely~ despite the "Panasonic" thing.

So that was a nice trip! I'd kind of like to go back and check out the folk museum.

Tochoji & Jotenji Temples

Switching from Shinto Shrines to Buddhist Temples now, I had a daytime trip to Tochoji and Jotenji Temples. They're both on the route of the Yamakasa Festival race, and although it's not there yet there will be a flag out the front marking them as such. The participants will not only have to go down some pretty tight streets with a one-ton float, they will also have to go AROUND these flags, with their floats, all hundred or so of them, before they keep going down the course.

You might remember Tochoji Temple's name... it's the place where, back in the parading days, the Doi District's team took a break and were overtaken, starting the racing tradition. I actually go right past the front of this every morning on the way to the office from Hakata station (our office is right on the route of the Yamakasa, too!), so it was nice to have an excuse to finally go inside.
 

Higashi District's Kazariyama... nearly done!	A Fukuoka City Volunteer showing tourists around. It didn't look like there was much on that particular road... but Gokusho is really full of old temples, shrines and (so my senpai says) shops over 100 years old.
This is where one flag will be. This is the front of Tochoji that faces Taihaku Doori, one of the main roads back in the day and still a pretty busy thoroughfare. The buildings here are really new too, and there are a lot of offices attached... it looks like it's still in a lot of use.	Apparently.
Some of the modern buildings on the grounds. The light was really nice here... there's lockers here too, so there must be people doing something here. I saw some monks around at one point too.	Some of the structures on the grounds. It's kind of nice how the scenery blends with the city buildings behind. Even though the road's right there, it's pretty peaceful.
The main building, with some city buildings behind. There was a proper prayer hall and everything, and places for candles, but I felt bad taking a photo of it.	Bright red Pagoda! I still kinda admire how clean these buildings are. I always wonder what's inside pagodas though... my only clue is Pokemon Gold & Silver, though.
And another building. It's a really pleasant, cool place to be on a hot summer's day. There was a couple or two walking up and down the place both times I dropped in.
Distraction! An interesting honor list... Yaknow, I think we have a lot to thank these people for. Udon and Soba and Manju... I respect schools of Buddhism and that being brought over by people that get monuments, but this is something I can really relate to. :)	And here are the monuments. Not bad! Except this wasn't at all what I was looking for, lol.
And here it is! Another Flag Point at Jotenji Temple. Right there, I think outside that gate, will be another flag that the Yamakasa teams have to do a loop around as part of their course. There was also a fire truck parked here, so I wondered if maybe something had happened at the temple...	Jotenji Proper. Is that a bit of grey in the sky? I like Buddhist temples, they always smell like incense, and are invariably cool and peaceful even in the gardens.
Some aproned statues. I forget what it is, but I know there's a cultural meaning to these things. You see red aprons on little roadside shrine statues too... I remember them most from a Japanese Horror series though.	I found the stone! This clearly states that the man responsible for pouring water all around town and purifying it, was a priest called Shoichi that was enshrined at this the Jotenji Temple. I thought it was strange for a minute that he wasn't commemorated at Kushida in some way, but then again Shrines aren't the place for enshrining people. One way Shrines and Temples were explained to me: Shrines for the living, Temples for the dead. Also he was a Buddhist Priest....
Yamakasa in action! This was on display at Jotenji. My photo was quite blurry but sized down it's not too bad...	Some more Old meets New Skyline They look strangely nice together, don't they?
Distraction! A fire right between Jotenji and Tochoji...	Fireman directing traffic.
I thought it was coming from Jontenji for a second when I smelt it, but hearing the sirens me and the old man I was talking to rushed outside to find this scene. It looks like an old building, but I don't think it's a historical one. I can't be sure...	After a while all you could see was smoke and fire trucks. Police closed off the road though, but this guy was great. It felt good not being the only gawper. At least I had a fancy camera, one guy had his phone out... disrespect much? probably not.

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So that's my historical sight-seeing up to date. There are of course heaps more shrines and temples peppered throughout Gokusho Machi, and I have a feeling I'll be sent there at some point to take a look. Not that I mind!

My head was once again filled with all sorts of interesting, finicky historical knowledge about aspects of the Yamakasa Festival. Some more interesting mysteries for you:

It appears that one of the "Streams" actually wasn't part of the festival until AFTER World War II. So can bits of Hakata just join up whenever they feel like? I don't think so somehow...

If those doll displays get made new every year, just exactly WHAT happens to them afterwards? Who makes them? Who decides what they're about? Does each "Stream" keep their own craftsman and make their display top secret? Is there a secret history of Yama displays to be uncovered....?

CLOTHES! I've been seeing a lot of Yamakasa volunteers going around in a certain pattern of Kimono in this part of town. It's a slightly different pattern on the volunteers in other parts of town...it appears that this uniform too is decided, and there's all sorts of fun ways to use it during festival season too. But there's not just 7, for each "stream"... there's over 50! What's with THAT?

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These answers and more, sometime soon.

ALSO: over the weekend of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd a few local primary schools will be running their own Yamakasa! It sounds incredibly cute... but the course looks pretty long and intense. It always surprises me what people will let people do to their kids in this town. Watching TV does this to me too... but then again things we do to our kids would surprise JAPAN. There's a line, it's just drawn in a different place.