“Hachi-ryu-ko (八隆講)” - Mt.Takao’s annual prayer ceremony

On May 11th the “Hachi-ryu-ko(八隆講)” was held on Mt.Takao.
Mt.Takao is located in Hachioji city, so Hachioji’s geisha have a strong connection to Mt.Takao.
The famous temple, Takao-san Yakuo-in (高尾山薬王院), is located at the top of Mt.Takao, and “Hachi-ryu-ko (八隆講)” is the annual prayer ceremony held at that temple.

It was my first time to participate in “Hachi-ryu-ko (八隆講)”.
Without knowing much about “Hachi-ryu-ko (八隆講)”, I just signed my name on the application form and paid the 8,000 yen registration fee to my geisha mother.

On the actual day, we gathered at the Kenban (見番-the geisha office) at 11am, and we discussed our performances for the Hachioji festival which will be held in July.
At around noon we departed for Mt.Takao in my geisha mother’s car.

Around 30 minutes later we arrived at the foot of Mt.Takao.
Unfortunately on that day it was rainy so I was concerned about my kimono.

We could use the cable car from the foot of Mt.Takao to part of the way up the mountain. We would have to walk the rest of the way to the temple.
The cable car is famous for being steepest in Japan.
We met some of our customers at the cable car stop.

When we arrived at the temple, many people were already waiting in some large tatami rooms.
There we met some more of our customers who owned restaurants around Mt.Takao.
I could see how “Hachi-ryu-ko (八隆講)” was important for people who did business near Mt.Takao.

Several minutes later we all moved to the main temple together.
It was a very religious scene.
Over 100 people were sitting upright quietly in the room where incense was burning.
The sound of the rain suited the solemnity of the event.

Some Buddhist priests came into the room and they started praying.
Since Takao-san Yakuo-in (高尾山薬王院) is famous as a Shugendō temple, when the Buddhist priests made their way into the temple they were playing ホラ貝, which is a large shell used as an instrument like a horn.

The praying continued for about 1 hour, so I got pins and needles in my legs.
After the praying we made a money offering.

When I saw my favorite geisha sister, whose hometown is in Kesennuma which is one of the disaster areas, I was surprised, because she started crying.
I thought that she must have been thinking about the victims of the M9 Tohoku earthquake including her family who are still at a shelter.
I gave her a hug on the way to the big tatami room where our lunch had been prepared.

Another geisha sister said to me that the lunch is one of highlights of “Hachi-ryu-ko (八隆講)” .
Indeed lunch looked very delicious, and all dishes were vegetarian in the style of “Shojin Ryori” (精進料理-vegetarian food eaten by monks at temples in Japan).
We really enjoyed lunch.

After lunch, my geisha mother bought the local special Manju (饅頭-a traditional and popular Japanese sweet), which she gave to us, her geisha children, and we ate them in her car on the way back to our Okiya, geisha house.

I really enjoyed “Hachi-ryu-ko (八隆講)”, so I definitely want to participate in that event again next year.