Hatsu-uma(初午)

When I saw a flier about the"Hatsu-uma"(初午) at the "Kenban"(見番), the geisha office which sends geisha to ozashiki parties, I was not able to understand the meaning of "Hatsu-uma".

On the flier, details about a shaman visiting at the "Kenban" at 12:30am, were written.
So I asked my geisha sister what the event meant so that I could understand about the "Hatsu-uma".

In Japan, there is a custom which is called "Zyuni-shi"(十二支).
In that custom, 12 different animals are assigned to each direction, each day, each month, and each year. This custom comes from ancient China.
"Hatsu-uma" means "The first horse day in February", which is the seventh animal of  the "Zyuni-shi".

"Hatsu-uma" is also the day which "Inari-shin"(稲荷神) who is the god of "Fushimi-Inari-shrine"(伏見稲荷神社) came down to the earth.

There are many Inari-shrines in Japan, however "Fushimi-Inari-shrine" is the top "Inari-shrine" in Japan, so we celebrate the "Hatsu-uma" day.

In Fact, the "Inari" god is a fox who represents a god of harvest, succession in business and safety of the family.

Next to the "Kenban", there is a small "Inari-shrine" so we celebrate the "Hatsu-uma" there.
In my hometown, there is not a similar custom, so it was my first time to experience "Hatsu-uma".

The day before the "Hatsu-uma", I saw the staff of the "Kenban" preparing a lot of bags containing snacks to give to the children.

The hair stylist who usually sets our hair, explained to me that, when she was a child, on the "Hatsu-uma" day, the children used to take a big bag to the "Kenban" in order to get many snacks.

On the day of the "Hatsu-uma", I put on my kimono and my apron and went to the "Kenban".

When I arrived there, I saw that some vegetables, sardines, red sea bream, sake and "Abura-age"(油揚げ, deep‐fried tofu), were being offered to the Inari god.
"Abura-age" and sardines are the favorite food of the Inari god.

Around the small Inari-shrine, I also saw some colorful flags on which Hachioji geisha's names were written. I started to get excited.

At 12:30am, the shaman arrived at the Kenban, and started to pray. While I was listening to his prayer, I also prayed for the prosperity of Hachioji's geisha.

After the prayer, the geisha, the owners of some restaurants, which belong to the "Hachioji-sangyo-kumiai"(八王子三業組合, the Hachioji geisha organization), and the head of the local traditional carpenter's association, ate lunch together.

In fact, on that day, I had an ozashiki party at 4pm, so since I was already wearing my kimono, I put on my apron to help with the preparation of lunch and the clearing away of tables.

During the lunch, the head of the local carpenter's association, who is called "Kashira"(頭) grilled "Abura-age" and sardines outside on a charcoal fire.

Before I took them up to the second floor of the "Kenban" where everyone was eating lunch, I ate some of them. They were very delicious.

One part of our lunch was Sushi, which had been made by one of the restaurants which belongs to the " Hachioji-sangyo-kumiai". It was also very delicious.
 I'm sometimes called to ozashiki parties at that Sushi restaurant, however I didn't know the taste of their sushi, so I'm happy to finally know how good their sushi is.

The experience of my first "Hatsu-uma" was really interesting.
I recognized that people who are concerned with the "Karyukai"(花柳界), the geisha world, really value such traditional culture.