Eiheiji Temple Flower Festival

Overview

The Eiheiji Monzen Hana Matsuri is a Buddhist celebration of the birth of the Buddha, held along the temple-gate street of Eiheiji, the head temple of the Soto Zen school, located in Shibi, Eiheiji Town, Fukui Prefecture. The flower festival, also known as Kanbutsue, is observed at temples throughout Japan in connection with April 8, the traditional birthday of the Buddha, but the version held at the gate of Eiheiji is customarily celebrated on May 6, the final day of Japan's spring Golden Week holidays. A procession of children in costume parades through the temple-gate town, and worshippers pour sweet tea over an image of the infant Buddha to celebrate his birth. It is a cherished annual event that brings the colors of spring to the approach of Eiheiji.

The festival is organized by the Eiheiji Town Tourism and Products Association, and its venue is the precincts of the great head temple of Eiheiji and its monzen, or temple-gate, street. As an event praying for the healthy growth of children and the fulfillment of wishes, it draws many visitors, especially local families.

History and Origins

The flower festival originates in Kanbutsue, the traditional Buddhist observance of the Buddha's birth. According to legend, the Buddha took seven steps immediately after being born, pointed to heaven and earth, and proclaimed his unique dignity, whereupon sweet dew is said to have rained down from the heavens to bathe the newborn. From this story arose the custom of pouring sweet tea over an image of the infant Buddha in celebration. The hanamido, a small shrine decorated with flowers in which the infant Buddha is enshrined, represents the flower-filled garden of Lumbini where the Buddha is said to have been born.

The flower festival at the gate of Eiheiji has carried this Buddhist tradition forward as a local rite. According to records that tell the history of the temple-gate town, the festival was once organized chiefly by Eiheiji's Sunday school, a place where children were introduced to Buddhist teachings in an approachable way, and where the festival celebrating the Buddha's birth was lovingly maintained. Over time its custodianship spread to the wider community, and today it has developed into a town-wide event centered on the temple-gate street under the leadership of the tourism and products association.

Eiheiji itself is the great head temple of the Soto Zen school, founded in 1244 by the Zen master Dogen as a fundamental training hall for seated meditation. By taking the temple's solemn precincts and gate street as its stage, the flower festival becomes more than a simple annual event, drawing on the cultural depth of Eiheiji Town, known as the Village of Zen.

Highlights

The Children's Procession

The centerpiece of the festival is the procession of children. Dressed in colorful costumes, the children parade in formation along the temple-gate street, a scene that is the very image of the flower festival's brightness. In recent years about eighty children have taken part, carrying with them the prayers of parents and grandparents for the healthy growth of these young participants. The sight of the children's procession advancing along the streets of the temple town creates a gentle liveliness fitting for the close of the spring holidays.

Pouring Sweet Tea over the Infant Buddha

A flower shrine is set up at the venue, and worshippers ladle sweet tea over the image of the infant Buddha enshrined within to celebrate the Buddha's birth. The sweet tea evokes the sweet dew said to have fallen from heaven at the moment of the Buddha's birth, and the act of pouring it over the image is the most symbolic rite of the flower festival. Open to everyone from children to adults, it offers a chance to come into intimate contact with Buddhist teaching while praying for the fulfillment of one's wishes.

Dates and Access

The Eiheiji Monzen Hana Matsuri is held every year on May 6. Falling on the final day of the spring holidays, the event generally runs from around one in the afternoon to about three. The venue is the precincts of the great head temple of Eiheiji and its temple-gate street in Shibi, Eiheiji Town; in case of rain, the event moves inside the temple grounds. Inquiries are handled by the Eiheiji Town Tourism and Products Association.

Eiheiji lies in the northern part of Fukui Prefecture, in a mountain valley carved by a tributary of the Kuzuryu River, and can be reached by local bus or car from central Fukui City and the area's railway stations. Because it is held on the last day of the holidays, families find it easy to stop by as a final outing, and the temple-gate street fills with worshippers.

Around the Site

At the far end of the temple-gate street that serves as the venue stands, of course, the great head temple of Eiheiji of the Soto Zen school. Within its vast precincts, surrounded by ancient cedars centuries old, the seven principal buildings that form the heart of monastic training are arranged along the slope, where unsui, the training monks, still devote themselves daily to seated meditation and labor. Set amid the stillness of the deep mountains, the halls draw worshippers from Japan and abroad as a place to feel the spirit of Zen firsthand.

Along the temple-gate street, shops sell local specialties connected to vegetarian temple cuisine, such as Eiheiji sesame tofu, as well as souvenirs, allowing visitors to enjoy a stroll along with their visit to the festival. Eiheiji Town has pursued community development under the banner of the Village of Zen, and the flower festival is one of the events through which its temple-gate culture can be experienced.

Related Information

The flower festival, or Kanbutsue, is a Buddhist observance held at temples throughout Japan to celebrate the birth of the Buddha, and is generally conducted on April 8. The fact that the Eiheiji Monzen Hana Matsuri is held on May 6, the final day of the spring holidays, is thought to reflect an adjustment to local circumstances so that more people can take part.

What distinguishes this festival is that the tradition of the children's procession and the pouring of sweet tea, both praying for the growth of children, is carried on against the backdrop of the gate of a temple of such high standing as the head temple of the Soto Zen school. A universal Buddhist observance celebrating the birth of the Buddha has taken root as a local spring event, intertwined with the character of Eiheiji Town as the Village of Zen.

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