They bowed to conclude the ritual, and as they did the light faded around them, so that they straightened up back in the normal shrine precincts, the stones of the iwakura dimly illuminated against a backdrop of dark trees.

Akiko drew a deep, shuddering breath, and carefully got to her feet, cradling the mask in her hands. She turned to look at the others; there were tears on Shiraishi’s face, and Kazumi was looking between them, still bewildered. For a long moment, none of them said anything.

“We’ll talk inside.” Shiraishi was, in the end, the first to speak, and Akiko just nodded, following the priest into the house. They said nothing while they prepared tea, and the silence continued for some minutes as they sat around the table.

“I found myself in a different shrine precinct, in daylight, with a shrine building,” Akiko began, finally breaking the silence, “and then we performed a ritual and Tamao appeared in the form of a giant snake.” She could see the relief on Kazumi’s face, and Shiraishi was nodding in agreement. “It really happened. What do we do now?”

“Hold the aramatsuri,” Shiraishi said. “I don’t think we can really disregard such a clear instruction.”

Akiko nodded her head, and glanced to Kazumi.

“Er… yes.” The girl was obviously still rather distracted. “Er… That was Tamao? The kami?”

“Yes.” Akiko tried to keep her voice gentle. She could remember how much of a shock it was; at least Kazumi had some people to believe her.

“He’s beautiful.”

Akiko nodded, and noticed Shiraishi doing the same.

“Don’t forget that he’s still dangerous, though,” Akiko warned.

“What do you mean?”

Shiraishi took over the task of explaining things, which reminded Akiko that the kami had told her she still had a lot to learn. Thinking about it now, she was fairly sure that he didn’t just mean the sacred dances and the various details of Shinto, but that didn’t help with the positive question. When Shiraishi finished her explanation, she decided to ask the question.

“Sorry to change the subject, but what do you think Tamao meant when he said I still had a lot to learn?”

“Well, you do,” Shiraishi said, quickly. “Rituals, myths, dances; all that sort of thing.”

“Do you really think he meant that?”

“I think that’s part of what he meant.” The priest paused. “You probably still have to learn more about your ability to see the kami and kegare, as well. And possibly about your ability to fight it. Talking of that, though, Kazumi, why did Tamao purify you like that?” Shiraishi blushed slightly as she asked it, but that was nothing compared to the dark colour that filled Kazumi’s face.

“I… I don’t… I have no idea…” she stammered, before trailing off.

“Oh, I see. Hmm, well, we should talk about what we’re going to do to hold the aramatsuri, then.”

Akiko looked at her, a bit surprised, and Shiraishi shook her head slightly. Suddenly, Akiko understood. Kazumi didn’t want to talk about it, and Shiraishi wasn’t going to press her yet.

“Do you think that’s the one I saw in my visions?” she asked.

“Visions?” Kazumi asked. Akiko nodded, and quickly explained what she had seen.

“That sounds fun!” Kazumi said, brightening up considerably. “We should definitely do that!”

“Mm.” Shiraishi didn’t sound quite so enthusiastic. “I’m not sure that it needs to be done exactly as Akiko saw it in her visions.” Kazumi’s face fell, and Akiko rolled her eyes. “We’ll have to look in the shrine records, but you need to go home, young lady.” Kazumi glanced up at the clock, and then sprang to her feet in a panic, pulling at the tie on her hakama.

“Shall I bring your clothes in here, then?” Shiraishi asked, her voice slightly weary.

06: Wild Festival, Episode 40 | 6 Comments »

Even after Kazumi had left, babbling apologies down the phone to her mother, Akiko was far too keyed-up to sleep, and Shiraishi looked the same. She turned to Akiko, her eyes shining.

“I saw him!”

Akiko couldn’t help smiling at the enthusiasm on the priest’s face, and then she had to pause to consider her own, much more muted, reaction. Had she really got used to seeing a giant talking snake?

Yes, apparently you have, she told herself.

“He looked… even greater than you described.” Shiraishi was almost breathless.

“He is overwhelming,” Akiko agreed. “So we mustn’t forget that he is also dangerous.”

The priest’s face suddenly became more serious as she nodded.

“You’re right, of course. But…” The smile broke out again. “I saw him!” It was almost a whisper. She was silent for several moments, smiling at whatever she was imagining, then she shook her head. “Anyway, we should try to find out what the aramatsuri really involved.”

“Do we have records?”

“Of course!” Shiraishi sounded shocked. “We had enough sense to move them somewhere safe while Tokyo was being bombed. Well, that and relatives in Nagano with a spare room. We’ve got nearly everything.” Her face fell. “Which is why I’ve not looked at most of it. “Everything” is quite a lot.”

She led Akiko back into the house, to an upstairs room she’d never been to before. It was full of books and documents, piled on shelves without any apparent order. Akiko stared around.

“Just like this?”

“Mm.” The priest sounded a bit embarrassed. “I’ve kept meaning to catalogue and organise it, but…”

“We do need to hold the festival this year!” Akiko said, and then realised how harsh that sounded. “I’m sorry. It just looks… overwhelming.”

“Mm.” Suddenly, Shiraishi’s expression brightened. “It’s not so bad. We do know that the aramatsuri hasn’t been held for a long time; I’m pretty sure it hasn’t happened since the Meiji Restoration. So we only need to look at the oldest records.”

“And probably not account books and the like,” Akiko added. “Just things that might tell us what actually went on in the festival.”

“Right. So… this shelf is all too recent.”

They started going through the piles of papers, narrowing the search down quite quickly at first, but then uncovering another problem. Akiko could barely read the writing on the older documents, and Shiraishi didn’t find it much easier. Once they had excluded material that was too recent, things started to go much more slowly. They had to open the books, look to see what it was.

“Er. I think I’ve found it,” Akiko said. Shiraishi came to look, and was quiet for a moment, trying to puzzle out the writing.

“This is the middle,” she said, after a moment. “Turn back a few pages.”

“Yes, but…” Akiko started to protest.

“I see them. We still can’t hold a festival involving topless women in loincloths.”

“But this is the aramatsuri!” Akiko protested. “Look! Even I can read this bit.”

“Are you volunteering to help carry the mikoshi?”

“Ah.” Akiko paused to think. “Maybe Tamao will allow some modifications.”

06: Wild Festival, Episode 40 | 2 Comments »

“Well?”

“Well what?” Akiko was starting to feel her lack of sleep, and wasn’t quite up to handling Kazumi’s enthusiasm.

“Well, did Tamao appear again? What are you going to do about the festival? Are we going to summon him and have him eat all the losers at the entrance to the shrine?”

In spite of herself, Akiko smiled.

“No, he didn’t appear again. No, we aren’t going to have him eat the protesters.” Akiko had to pause as she suddenly remembered Mrs Watanabe’s story. “And as for the festival,” she continued, “we found some old records last night, and we’re working on it.”

“Great! Can I help?”

“After school.”

Kazumi pouted, and, noticing that Shiraishi had come out of the house, turned to her for support.

“You have to go to school, Kazumi. But…” She looked at her watch. “OK. Get changed quickly. You can help with the morning ceremonies, and then we’ll tell you about the festival. But then you have to go to school.”

“Right away!” Kazumi ran indoors, leaving her shoes lying in the entrance hall. Sighing, Shiraishi tidied them up.

“She’s a bit tiring at times, isn’t she?”

“Mm,” Akiko agreed. “But why tell her now?”

Shiraishi looked surprised.

“She has seen Tamao as well. He’s included her; I’m not going to exclude her.”

“Oh.” Akiko hadn’t quite thought of it like that. “But she doesn’t know anything…”

“Ah, Akiko, neither did you. She is starting from the same place you did.”

Akiko could feel herself blushing; the priest was absolutely right. Akiko suddenly realised that she wasn’t entirely happy that the others had seen the kami; it made her less special. Stupid, she scolded herself. Would you rather no-one believed you?

Noriko arrived just before Kazumi came out in her vestments, and joined them for the morning purifications as usual. Akiko quickly checked for kegare before they started, and winced at the stench of decay coming from half a dozen patches near the edge. She looked closely; was it worse than the previous day? No better, certainly. In any case, the harae cleansed it.

“Now tell me about the festival!” Kazumi said, as soon as they had finished.

“Festival?” Noriko asked.

“Ah, yes,” Shiraishi said. “An old festival, one the shrine hasn’t held for over a century. We’re… thinking of reviving it.”

“Really? That sounds very interesting.”

“Well, come and look at the records.” Shiraishi didn’t sound fully enthusiastic to Akiko’s ears, but Noriko’s desire to be told was quite clear.

In the office, Shiraishi carefully opened the book.

“Wow!” Kazumi was grinning all over her face as she looked at the picture of the procession.

“Oh!” Noriko was blushing very strongly.

“I want to be in this festival!” Kazumi said, prompting Akiko to look at Shiraishi and roll her eyes.

“Er… Are you really sure that this is appropriate?” Noriko asked. “Some festivals were discontinued for good reasons, you know.”

“Well, we think we would have to modify it a bit…” the priest said, but Noriko shook her head.

“It’s not just the nudity. Look. This is a wild festival, racing the mikoshi.” She gestured at the text, and, with a shock, Akiko realised that she could read it easily. “People get injured in those festivals, even killed. And, of course,” she blushed again, “there is the nudity. That’s hardly appropriate.”

“It’s a traditional festival of the shrine,” Shiraishi protested. “How can it be inappropriate?”

“Half-naked men and women racing with mikoshi? Come on, do you really think that’s appropriate activities for a shrine?”

Shiraishi didn’t answer, but Kazumi looked distinctly disappointed.

06: Wild Festival, Episode 40 | 3 Comments »

“I thought you wanted to change the festival?”

“That was before someone said my shrine’s festival was inappropriate!” Shiraishi sounded rather annoyed, but Akiko was struggling not to laugh.

“Well, Kazumi seems enthusiastic about it.”

“And why not?” Shiraishi suddenly stopped, and then sighed. “Noriko is at least partly right. We still can’t have topless women running around; that’s against the law. But we’re going to have the mikoshi race.” Akiko nodded.

“I think we need to stay as close as possible to the original form of the festival. Otherwise the Aramitama might not be satisfied.”

“Did you see those mikoshi? We can’t afford anything like that. They’ll have to be…”

Suddenly, they heard shouting from the entrance to the shrine, and it sounded like an argument.

“Oh, not again…” Shiraishi’s expression was weary as she stood up, and Akiko followed her down the steps.

The scene was all too familiar; a bloc of protesters separating the guards from a group of people who wanted to enter the shrine. There seemed to be at least half a dozen different arguments going on at once, and a few people were going quite red in the face. Akiko paused half way down the steps and switched her vision over, looking at the pollution. As usual, the guards had very little kegare, while the protesters were heavy with it, creatures that looked like roaches with dozens of legs leaping from one protester to the next, leaving sticky threads linking them. Beyond, the visitors, some of whom Akiko recognised, also had heavy kegare, kegare that smelled of burning plastic and clung to them like smoke and oil. She hoped that they had come for a harae, because they clearly needed it.

“Look, please let them through!” Shiraishi was shouting as loudly as she could, but Akiko could barely hear her over the noise, and the protesters paid no attention at all. The guards had heard, though, and, glancing up, one started pushing forward, the others following.

The protesters pushed back, still shouting their protests. The guards pushed harder, and one of the protesters stumbled, grabbing the guard in front of him to avoid falling.

And then the guard stumbled, swearing, and Akiko realised that he’d been kicked in the shins. He struck back before Akiko could say anything, and this time the other protesters saw it as well, one of them swinging a fist at the guard, who dodged easily and returned it.

“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” Akiko yelled, as she ran down the steps and into the melee, trying to push people apart. “Stop it this instant! I’ll call the police!”

She staggered as a solid blow landed on her back, and then slipped as another one caught her face.

She cried out, and as she fell to her knees realised that the fighters had pulled back, stopping as, she thought, they realised what they were doing.

“What on earth do you think you are doing?” Shiraishi sounded really angry now, and Akiko could see her rage was directed equally at the protesters and the guards. “Get out of the way now! Go on! Move!”

The protesters scattered, apparently somewhat shocked at what they had done, and the guards sheepishly retreated up the steps. Shiraishi came to the bottom to help Akiko to her feet.

“Are you all right?”

06: Wild Festival, Episode 40 | 5 Comments »

Akiko sat in the kitchen, holding an ice pack to her cheek, watching Shiraishi pace back and forth, her anger still visible.

“What do they think they are doing?”, “I should call the police.”, “Really, we can’t put up with this!”

Every so often she would turn to Akiko and put her annoyance into words, but then turn away again without waiting for an answer.

“Why don’t you call the police?” Akiko asked, at last. “They actually started a fight this time.”

“Yes, but who started it? And who would testify?” The priest stopped pacing, and turned to look at Akiko. “And anyway, everyone’s…” She was interrupted by the doorbell. Taking a deep breath, and another, she smoothed down her vestments. “You wait here.” The priest left, to answer the door.

“Revd Shiraishi, I hope that this is not a bad time.” Akiko recognised Mr Fujimura’s voice, and immediately dropped the ice, jumping to her feet and hurrying out into the corridor.

“Not at all. Won’t you come in?” Shiraishi turned as Mr Fujimura stepped up into the house, and spotted Akiko. “Ah, Ms Tanahata. Would you make us some tea?” Akiko could still hear the anger, but Shiraishi was clearly trying to keep it under control.

“…entirely appropriate?” Akiko only caught the end of Mr Fujimura’s sentence as she entered the room, but it was easy enough to guess what he was asking; Noriko must have contacted him.

“It is an old tradition of our shrine.” Akiko could tell that Shiraishi had deliberately kept the answer brief.

“Not all of the old traditions were good ones. There was too much corruption from Buddhism in the old days. Now,” Mr Fujimura had clearly spotted that Shiraishi was about to interrupt, “I know that it doesn’t sound like there is much Buddhist about this festival, but equally just because it is old does not mean that it is good. Ms Yamanaka mentioned races with the mikoshi; such things are surely below the dignity of a kami, of a shrine.”

“The kami have many aspects, Mr Fujimura. We must not neglect any of them.” Shiraishi’s reply was very stiff.

“Could there not be more respectful ways to honour them?”

“A wild festival is appropriate to the wild aspect of a kami.”

“The Aramitama? But surely that is a very primitive concept, one that Shinto has largely left behind as it has developed.”

“Violence and passion are still with us. As we are all too aware. Mr Fujimura, are you aware of what the th… people you have sent to this shrine have done?”

“I’m sorry?”

Shiraishi quickly outlined what had happened.

“That sort of violence is clearly inappropriate at a shrine, and disrespectful to the kami. If you can’t keep your people under control, you shouldn’t be lecturing us about out festivals,” she concluded.

Mr Fujimura’s face had darkened during the account, and as the priest finished speaking he bowed deeply.

“I am most truly sorry for their excesses. If you will excuse me, I will go to talk to them immediately, and ensure that such a thing does not happen again.”

“Very well,” Shiraishi said, and then, after a pause, “Thank you.”

Mr Fujimura got up, and, bowing again, left.

06: Wild Festival, Episode 40 | 2 Comments »

“Akiko, tell me honestly. What do you think about the wild festival?” Shiraishi was pacing again, but not from anger this time.

“Er…” Akiko wasn’t sure how to answer. “Well, we have to hold it.”

“But is it appropriate?”

“It’s very appropriate to Tamao’s Aramitama. Carrying the kami around in a mad race? Yes, that seems to fit perfectly.”

“And the nudity?”

“Ah.” Akiko could feel herself blushing. “I’m sure we could do something about that. I don’t know. Have everyone wear coats or something.”

“Happi coats?” Shiraishi asked. Akiko pictured the short coats that people often wore at festivals.

“Well, we’d have to tie them closed, at least for the women.” She paused, looking at the priest and thinking about her reactions. “Revd Shiraishi, weren’t you more dubious about the festival?”

“That was before people started criticising the tradition of my shrine! Inappropriate, indeed.” She sighed. “Even if the happi coats would work, we can’t afford the mikoshi. And I really don’t think we can do the festival without them.”

Remembering the visions, and the images in the record book, Akiko had to agree. The mikoshi had looked spectacular, and very, very expensive. Before she could make any suggestions, however, the doorbell rang again.

“Who is it this time?” Shiraishi sounded exasperated, but went to the door anyway, Akiko tagging along in case it was important.

“Oh, Akira. Nice to see you.”

“Nice to see you, too.” He paused for a moment, looking at them. “Is everything all right? There were no protesters, but you don’t look happy.”

Quickly, they filled him in on the problems, first the fight, and then the problems with the wild festival.

“You are sure you have to hold this festival?”

“Yes,” Akiko said, quickly, and Shiraishi was also nodding. “The kami told us to.” Akira looked surprised, and a bit sceptical, looking between them as if waiting to be let in on the joke. Slowly, his expression changed, becoming more fearful.

“The kami…” he began, and then shook his head. “In that case, you really do have to hold it. Let me know if I can help.”

“Have you got a spare twenty million yen or so for the mikoshi?” Shiraishi asked.

“Ah, sorry…”

“I was teasing, Akira. Thank you for the offer, we will need all the help we can get. Anyway, what can we do for you?”

“Ah. Yes. Er… I came to talk to Akiko, actually.”

“Oh.” The priest seemed nonplussed for a moment, but then she got to her feet, nodding. “Well, then, I’ll just, er, go and, mm, check on the shrine grounds.”

Akiko looked up, a bit puzzled, but Shiraishi had already hurried out of the room.

“Er, Akiko,” Akira began, and Akiko looked back at him. “I was wondering whether you’d like to have dinner again this week.”

“That’s very kind, but I don’t think I can. There’s too much going on at the shrine. And probably outside…” Akiko fell silent as she realised just how stricken Akira looked.

I’m an idiot, she thought. How could I not have noticed until now? And what do I do?

“Maybe when things have settled down a bit?” she ventured. Akira still didn’t look happy, but he nodded, and, after a few stilted pleasantries, excused himself.

Well, that’s an additional complication I didn’t need, Akiko thought, as she cleared the table.

06: Wild Festival, Episode 40 | 2 Comments »

Akiko was exhausted, and slumped down in the car seat as soon as she had fastened her belt. Shiraishi glanced over.

“That was the last one for today.” Akiko nodded, glancing out of the window. The house they’d just purified was clear, but she could still see the kegare hanging over the buildings around it, like a clinging mist, coiling around windows and doors. She tried to shift her vision back, but couldn’t quite get it to shift. Instead, she closed her eyes, leaning back in the chair.

“We should get back to the shrine,” she said. “Make sure Kazumi’s OK.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Shiraishi said, as she started the car. “She’s a lot more responsible than she seems.” Akiko had to admit that that was true. Kazumi always did the things she said she would do, and she really seemed to like being at the shrine. Akiko thought she understood part of the reason; every time she went out into the city, the kegare seemed to suck her energy away. “Still,” the priest continued, “I do want to check on the festival preparations. Make sure she hasn’t cancelled the order for happi coats.” Akiko smiled, and opened her eyes to look at the priest.

“Or loincloths.” Shiraishi chuckled, and then shook her head.

“We’re not being fair to her. Apart from after the cleaning” — Akiko was sure Shiraishi was blushing — “it’s mostly just been teasing you. A lot of girls wear those short skirts, and Kazumi puts trousers on underneath now.”

“Ah, but she’s very enthusiastic about helping to carry the mikoshi.” Akiko was grinning, and Shiraishi risked flashing a quick grin back, before looking back at the road, her face turning sober.

“Seriously. We should stop making fun of her behind her back. She’s a great help.”

“She is.” Akiko had to agree. Kazumi seemed to be spending all her free time at the shrine, and even though it was taking her a while to get the ceremonial movements right she was surprisingly good at cleaning and basic office work. And she’d thrown herself into the festival preparations with great enthusiasm; with the surge in the number of requests for purification, she’d ended up doing most of the organising, and it seemed to be going well. “Weren’t the posters being delivered to…” Akiko looked idly out of the window as she asked, and cut herself off with a gasp.

“Stop the car.”

Shiraishi quickly pulled over. Akiko got out, and walked back to the junction.

It was still there. One of the side streets seemed to vanish into a solid bank of black cloud, its surface whipping and churning silently, while the smell of ash stung at Akiko’s nostrils. Even at this distance, Akiko started to feel grit on her skin, as if tiny particles of smoke were lodging inside her clothes.

“Kegare?” the priest asked, coming up beside her. Akiko nodded.

“Really dense. I can’t see down this street at all. How does it look to you?”

“Well… A bit dirty; there’s a fair bit of litter about, and some graffiti. The houses could do with some paint, and there are a couple of small blocks of flats that look older than I am. But… Nothing really remarkable.”

“Is that a park?” Akiko pointed at a patch of land right on the edge of the cloud.

“Yes. Nothing but a broken set of swings in it.”

“OK. We can do the harae there.”

Shiraishi looked at her, concern on her face.

“Are you sure? We can come back.”

“We should do it now,” Akiko replied. “I don’t want to leave that.”

They collected the equipment from the back of the car and went over to the park, the ash now a taste in Akiko’s mouth. She resisted the urge to spit, but all her clothes felt gritty, and every step was uncomfortable. She had Shiraishi stand just outside the cloud, and readied the kagurasuzu as the priest began the norito.

There was no reaction from the cloud. Akiko couldn’t see any change in the boiling patterns, and no spirits emerged to confront the priest. The light began to build up in the ohnusa, and the taste of ashes faded from Akiko’s mouth. She looked around, but while there were a handful of kegare spirits on the houses behind them, they were keeping their distance, slinking behind the roof line as Akiko glanced in their direction.

Shiraishi picked up the ohnusa and swung it, light flooding off it and washing over Akiko, briefly lifting her exhaustion. The smoke dissolved in the light, swept back, and Akiko caught a glimpse of something more solid retreating, withdrawing from the brilliance.

The priest swung the ohnusa again, and again the light dissolved the smoke. But, Akiko suddenly realised, only the same smoke. It had come pouring back as the first wave of light had faded. Shiraishi swung the ohnusa for the third and last time, and as she stopped the smoke flowed back to its original position, a boiling wall in front of her.

The priest turned to look at Akiko, and Akiko shook her head.

“It made no difference. Do it again.”

Shiraishi looked shocked, but she turned back to the smoke and began reciting the norito once more. There was still no response from the smoke, although the buildings outside it had been somewhat purified, so that there were now no spirits at all watching them.

Again, the light pouring from the ohnusa drove the smoke back, but, again, the smoke just flowed back to its original position. Shiraishi looked at Akiko again, and she shook her head once more.

“It’s not properly cleansing it. Hold on…” Raising the kagurasuzu before her, Akiko walked slowly towards the smoke. It showed no reaction, even when she was standing right up against it. Taking a deep breath, which smelled of dead ashes, Akiko stepped into it.

She felt ashes on her skin, on her tongue, heavy in her hair. She could see nothing, but ash got into her eyes, leaving them streaming with tears, and there was nothing but ash on the air, ash that filled her lungs, starting her coughing, and she couldn’t stop, falling to her knees, her hand sinking into a deep layer of ash as she tried to steady herself.

Pushing off the ground, she flung herself backwards, into the light, kneeling on the ground in the park and coughing up black phlegm.

As her eyes cleared, the wall of smoke still rose into the sky before her, completely unmoved.

06: Wild Festival, Episode 40 | 1 Comment »