Ueno Tenjin Festival: Kodamachō
Shirushi: Sansha no Takusen
Danjiri: Komino Yama
The shirushi float of Kodamachō is called Sansha no Takusen, meaning “the declarations of the three shrines.” The declarations are revelations from the kami deities of Ise-jingū Shrine, Iwashimizu-hachimangū Shrine, and Kasuga-taisha Shrine. Inside the shirushi are three statues representing the Shinto deities Amaterasu Ōmikami, Hachiman Daibosatsu, and Kasuga Daimyōjin.
Paired with this is a danjiri named Komino Yama, meaning “small straw raincoat mountain,” which is a reference to a poem by Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), “At first rainfall, even monkeys want a straw coat.” Matsuo Bashō was born in Iga Ueno, and the residents of Kodamachō have inscribed this poem on their festival overcoats.
Komino Yama is mostly decorated with scenes and motifs inspired by Chinese classics. The middle curtains depict a traditional Chinese story, “The Literary Gathering in the Western Garden,” in which the greatest artists and writers of the age have gathered for a meal. The bottom curtain features scenes from “The Twenty-four Examples of Filial Piety,” a Chinese text dating back to the Yuan dynasty (1271–1388) that glorifies filial devotion. Dragon and turtle imagery on the front curtain complements tiger and bird imagery on the sides. Combined, they represent the four cardinal directions and the four seasons.