Mitama Matsuri at the Yasukuni Shrine.

I found out today that Yasukuni Jinja will be holding their annual Mitama Matsuri (soul festival) this coming week from Sunday through Wednesday. Events include lantern lighting, taiko drumming, biwa performance, dances, and more.

I`m super excited about this and plan to attend every day.

I suspect that the Mitama Matsuri is a descendant of the early Heian period goryou-e (august spirit festival), a topic that figures heavily in my current graduate work. (Goryou is actually an alternate kanji reading for mitama.) I can`t wait to see a real live mitama matsuri! Events are happening all day at the shrine, so I`ll probably spend a lot of time there--as much as I can when I`m not in class.

Here`s a link (all in Japanese, I`m afraid) to the matsuri schedule: Mitama Matsuri.