Japanese festivals
Japanese people's hearts leap in anticipation of the festivals that take place each year in towns and villages throughout the country. Japan was traditionally an agrarian society centered on the cultivation of rice and other crops. People lived by the rhythm of the seasons, and the harvest was a major landmark in farm life. Village festivals gave farming families the chance to take time out from work and enjoy themselves for a while. At some temples and shrines, festivals go back several hundred years. They are relaxing occasions that make people feel the weight of history and give them a sense of the sacred--sensations that are all too often forgotten in the pace of everyday modern life. Some festivals have their roots in Chinese festivals centuries ago, but have undergone great changes as they mixed with local customs. Some are so different that they do not even remotely resemble the original festival despite sharing the same name and date. There are also various local festivals (e.g. Tobata Gion) that are mostly unknown outside a given prefecture. It is commonly said that you will always find a festival somewhere in Japan
Print Book, English, 1974
Charles E. Tuttle, Tokyo, 1974