Forty People Are Carrying a Gold Shrine and Shaking It as Hard as They Can. That Is the Point.
To say heave-ho (the mikoshi chant) in Japanese, say わっしょい (wasshoi).
It looks like they are about to drop it. They are doing it deliberately, and the harder they shake, the better.
In this video
- お祭りでみんなが担いでいる、あの金色のもの。あれは「神輿」です。 omatsuri de minna ga katsuide iru, ano kin'iro no mono. are wa mikoshi desu. That gold thing everyone is carrying at the festival is a mikoshi.
- 神輿には、その町の神様が乗っています。お祭りの日だけ、神様が町を見て回るんです。 mikoshi ni wa, sono machi no kamisama ga notte imasu. omatsuri no hi dake, kamisama ga machi o mite mawaru n desu. The town's own deity rides inside it. On festival day only, the deity tours the neighbourhood.
- だから、わざと激しく揺らします。揺らすと神様の力が強くなると言われています。 dakara, wazato hageshiku yurashimasu. yurasu to kamisama no chikara ga tsuyoku naru to iwarete imasu. So they shake it hard on purpose. Shaking is said to make the god's power stronger.
- そのときの掛け声が「わっしょい」です。地域によって「そいや」や「せいや」にもなります。 sono toki no kakegoe ga wasshoi desu. chiiki ni yotte soiya ya seiya ni mo narimasu. The chant for that is wasshoi. Depending on the area it can also be soiya or seiya.
- 今度お祭りで神輿を見たら、一緒に「わっしょい」と言ってみてください。 kondo omatsuri de mikoshi o mitara, issho ni wasshoi to itte mite kudasai. Next time you see a mikoshi, try shouting wasshoi along with them.
Kanji in this phrase
- 神輿
- みこし
- 神様
- かみさま
- 掛け声
- かけごえ
- 担いで
- かついで
- 金色
- きんいろ
- 揺らします
- ゆらします
- 揺らす
- ゆらす
- 町
- まち
Why this phrase
A 神輿 is a portable shrine that carries the neighbourhood's kami through its own streets on festival day. The violent shaking is not showmanship or carelessness, it is believed to rouse the deity and spread that energy over the district. The chant differs by area and by carrying style: わっしょい is the old Edo call, still heard at 深川八幡祭 and on children's mikoshi, while そいや and せいや dominate much of Tokyo today, which is why the same festival sounds different two towns over.
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