Knife Ceremony at Minamiboso City's Takabe Shrine

I really love the straw roof...it's not something you really see around this area.

Last month, I had the opportunity to visit Takabe Shrine (高家神社) in Minamiboso City!

The first cool thing about Takabe Shrine is that it's the only shrine to be dedicated to a culinary god! The god worshipped here is Iwakamutsukari-no-Mikoto (say that 3 times fast!), who according to the shrine's legend, impressed the emperor with his cooking so much that he was appointed as the emperor's personal chef!

As such, the shrine gets many visitors related to the food industry who come to pray to Iwakamutsukari-no-Mikoto for success.

But my main goal for visiting was to see the 包丁式, or Knife Ceremony! It is a really awesome, impressive ritual where a whole fish is completely prepared using only knife and chopsticks.

The very lovely 絵馬 (prayer boards?) depicting the Knife Ceremony and Takabe Shrine.

Dressed in traditional ceremonial robes, and ready for battle!

The ceremony begins with the introduction of the participants, the presentation of the fish, and other preparations, like wiping down the cutting board and sprinkling salt in each of the corners (to purify the board). Then, it's almost time to start!!  The man dressed in white here is the toshu, or person who is solely responsible for preparing the fish.

The toshu takes careful care even just to remove the paper and decorations wrapped around the fish.

Each and every movement is precise...there are no extra, unnecessary gestures. There is also gagaku, or traditional Japanese court music playing in the background, helping draw out the grand, solemn atmosphere of the ritual.

Fish head D:

The stage and ritual participants. The giant slab of wood is the cutting board!

Filleting the fish.

No one could take their eyes off the stage as the toshu painstalkingly continued to prepare the fish.

Finally, the toshu carefully arranges the fish so that it can be taken into the shrine to be offered up. Even here he cannot use his hands, and carefully wields his knife and chopsticks to do the job.

I tried to get a better view of the final product by trying to catch them on their way to the shrine...

The procession continues up the steps into the shrine, where I suppose there is another ritual of offering.

This ceremony is held three times a year on May 17, October 17, and November 23, and is open to the public for viewing. The next performance is coming up tomorrow on Wednesday, November 23 at 12:00pm, so if you are a fan of traditional Japanese food and culture, be sure to check this event out!

For more details about the Knife Ceremony, please see:
http://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/kokusai/english/information/residents/news/issues/oct2011.html#event1002