Happy Year of the Pig! This year’s shogatsu was spent with the usual friends in Oji at the northern tip of Tokyo. We went there to watch the local event: 王子狐の行列 Oji Kitsune No Gyoretsu, “Oji Fox Procession.” At midnight, members of the community dress up as kistune/foxes and march slowly around town carrying lanterns. Anyone could join in the procession but you have to wear a kimono and put on kitsune make up. When you sign-up, they give you a lantern and teach you how to walk like a ghoulish fox. In Japanese folklore, kistune are considered the messengers of the Shinto god, Inari and have magical powers. The entire event is very somber and has a ghostly atmosphere. It made for a quaint new year’s eve away from the crowds at the larger shrines (1) At the main starting point, they displayed these 2 big kistune masks which were later carried to the Shrine with the procession (2) Lanterns are an essential part of any Japanese festival.

Signs and lanterns were decorated here and there making the area look like a celebration for some quasi-pagan ritual.

At a small shop near the starting point they were selling a variety of kitsune masks for a few thousand yen. Everyone was buying them and pretty soon the crowds were looking more and more like a scene from V for Vendetta.

Most of the masks were very small and it was almost impossible to see through the tiny eye holes, so we just wore them on our heads. That homeless looking dude in the right most photo is actually Brad feeling very cold because he shaved his head into a mohawk.

At midnight, there was a countdown and then the parade started. The 2 big kitsune masks were carried at the front of the procession. There was no music and the parade creeped along very slowly.

Some members of the procession got really into it and tried acting like kitsune but they seemed more like they were doing an impression of a cat. It would have been better if they actually wore the masks on their faces.

The procession was very short and there were no more than 100 people altogether, they passed by quickly and so we went to get some food and headed over to the Shrine via a short-cut. There was already a long line at the shrine so we went in through the side entrance where a stage was being prepared for a performance of some kind.

When the procession arrived, they took the big kitsune masks and fastened them to the front of the stage. Some kids were preparing to do some drumming for the performance but they were getting restless waiting.

There was a traditional Shinto ceremony followed by a hyottoko and shishimai performance and then a drunken guy who was apparently the chairman of the whole thing gave a speech and wished everyone a happy new year. Then it was over.

We hung around inside the Shrine for a bit taking photos. Since it was pretty cold last night we decided not to wait in line for hatsumode and to head back.

On the way out, in a playground of a small school, there was another performance which we stayed to watch. This group was dressed up with kitsune masks and playing some rather catchy festival folk tune that I can’t for the life of me remember. But it was really fun watching them dance around. I climbed up onto a jungle jim type thing to take photos but there were already a few people there included a gaijin couple which started dancing to the music and giving me camera shake, dammit! In the last photo you can see the line of people going up into the Shrine.

No one was in the mood to hang out for the sunrise or anything else so we headed back to my house where we played some Wii sports until people started falling asleep. It was a quieter, more laid back shogatsu than usual for me but I was dead tired and only got an hour sleep before waking up and heading to another friends house for a party.

Brad already has his write-up which you can read here.