Photo/Illutration In front of a collapsed building of Yanagidajinja shrine in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, priest Shigenobu Sakurai performs a Shinto ritual on Feb. 25. (Toshiyuki Hayashi)

SUZU, Ishikawa Prefecture--Despite the absence of the event’s usual crowd, a Shinto shrine here held its first festival on March 25 since the Noto Peninsula earthquake destroyed its main hall.

Offerings of crops and fish were made at an altar set up on the approach to Yanagidajinja shrine, while priest Shigenobu Sakurai, 59, beat a drum and recited a prayer.

The festival, dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), a noted scholar and politician, is usually a lively event.

However, it was a quiet affair this year, attended only by the priest’s family. Many of the shrine’s parishioners had evacuated to Kanazawa or other areas since the New Year’s Day earthquake.

The offerings were also scaled back. The usual display of a large sea bream, an expensive fish traditionally associated with celebrations and procured from a fish store, was replaced by more affordable horse mackerel, purchased at a supermarket.

Around the shrine itself, time seemed to have frozen the moment the magnitude-7.6 earthquake struck--with New Year’s decorations remaining around the ruined shrine buildings and collapsed torii gate.

“Goshintai,” a treasured object of worship enshrined in the main hall, was recovered from the wreckage by breaking through a wall, but other items, including a large drum used in the festival, have not yet been retrieved.

“The object of worship has been displaced but the ritual must be performed, so we did it in a simplified manner,” said Sakurai. “It will take some time before we can recover the rest of the items.”

Related News