Sakitori Shrine 1650 prayers

An annual festival was held at Sakitori Shrine in Shinomiya, Kanagawa Prefecture. We created a documentary film of the three-day festival which represents a major milestone – the 1650th anniversary of enshrinement, reached in the year 2019. Three Mikoshi portable shrines were carried in the celebratory procession on the final day, and shrine-bearers and participants only numbered over 2000 people in this lively festival. The good old Japanese soul, treasured since ancient times – reverence towards deities and ancestor worship – can be felt from the passionate spirits and expressions of the participating parishioners. This documentary was created in order to pursue the answer to this big question: what is prayer, cherished so by our predecessors?