『鹿の国』"Guardians of the Harvest"
The official site of 『鹿の国』"Guardians of the Harvest"🦌⬇️
First thing first, the following post was so inspiring that I watched the above film "Guardians of the Harvest" ("The Country of the Deer" if translated literally) 『鹿の国』 at POLE POLE Higashi-Nakano (ポレポレ東中野):
(Nothing to do with Georgia O'Keeffe)
Notes
① The energy of attempt to resurrect Mimuro Shintō Ritual 御室神事 is not just outstanding but beyond description… I personally wish "Project X" will not dig into the detail with its "cheesy production" of this project on revival of a Shintō ritual.
② The film said that Shintō rituals performed in the Suwa region are no longer practiced but still remain outside of Suwa, and showed a Shintō ritual at Notose Suwa Shrine 能登瀬諏訪神社 in Shinshiro City, Aichi Prefecture (愛知県新城市). It is explained in the following no+e article and YouTube video:
③ The film contains a scene where Buddhist monks came to Suwa Grand Shrine for a special celebration 奉告祭 as a ritual of giving thanks upon completion of Suwa Shintō & Buddhism Project 諏訪神仏プロジェクト, 150 years after Haibutsu kishaku 廃仏毀釈, which literally means "abolish Buddhism and destroy Shākyamuni", organized by the Meiji Government during the Meiji Restoration. Whilst I don't have the faintest intention to tell the Meiji Government is the same as the abhorrent Taliban, Haibutsu kishaku is effectively the same as what the Islamic fundamentalist group committed, and is considered one of the greatest stains on Japanese history 日本史の一大汚点 in my humble opinion, but that argument is inappropriate here.
The stark contrast between the clothing of Buddhist monks and Shintō priests is very clear and reminiscent of a scene of debate between two different Christian denominations in "Il nome della rosa" 『薔薇の名前』.
One particular scene of somewhat ostentatious performance during sutra chanting in front of Kami 神前読経 by Buddhist monks was surprising...not nauseating but nooooooooooot impressive, though I'm sure I only superficially look at the scene.
④ Suwa Grand Shrine 諏訪大社, considered one of the oldest shrines in Japan, cooperated in the filming of this artwork. In the film, the word Mishaguji ミシャグジ is repeatedly mentioned.
The following article refers to shrines related to the name:
⑤ Intended audience of this film with scenes in which heads of deer are offered to Kami or blood of deer flows obviously preclude those who emotionally fly into rage on those "cruelty" scenes from an animal rights perspective, for example, upon culling bears. The film also refers to Tamatsu-hime (often called Sayotsu-hime) 玉津日女命 (佐用都比売命), who appears in Harima no Kuni Fudoki 播磨国風土記, on a legend saying "the deer's belly was ripped open and rice plants were sown in its blood, and the seedlings grew overnight".
妹玉津日女命、生ける鹿を捕り臥せて、その腹を割きて、その血に稲種きき。仍りて、一夜の間に、苗生ひき。
⑥ I cannot help but superimpose this photo on the Forest Spirit シシ神 from "Princess Mononoke".
⑦ Incidentally, Fujimi-Town, Nagano Prefecture 長野県富士見町, southeast of Suwa, has a toponym Okkoto 乙事, which I vaguely associate with god Okkoto 乙事主 from "Princess Mononoke".
⑧ The following photos were taken during my trip to Suwa Grand Shrine (all the four shrines) in February 2021:
Right: The 2nd On-bashira (二之御柱)
⑨ To the east-northeast of Suwa Grand Shrine is Mishaka Pond 御射鹿池, a human-made reservoir created in 1933, in Chino City 茅野市:
Mishaka Pond is known as the inspiration for "Green Echoes"《緑響く》, a work by the famous Japanese painter Kaii Higashiyama 東山魁夷. The pond is located in the mountains at an elevation of 1,500m, and the spot is visited by numerous tourists and photographers due to the beautiful sight of the background landscape reflected on the water surface.
Header Image: Lake Suwa, taken from FDA flight 230 (Kōbe✈️Matsumoto) on 26th February 2023
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