July 8, 2014
The Shaara Boat of Oki-gun, Nishinoshima
Tomohiko Shinagawa, Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo
The Shaara Boat is a spirit boat that carries the departed souls towards the sea (west towards the Pure Land) during the Okuri Bon Festival (shortly after Obon). Spirit boat events occur in many communities in Japan, but the Shaara boats of the five neighborhoods surrounding Mita district in Oki-gun, Nishinoshima, (Funakoshi, Komukai, Ootsu, Ichibu, and Hashi) and the four neighborhoods surrounding Urago (Urago, Shakunoe, Chinzaki, and Mitabe) are made by local children. To give the spirits a warm send-off, offerings and flags from the Okuri Bon Festival are loaded onto the boats, and in some cases, the children themselves make their way onto the boats. During the Okuri Bon Festival, many who have left the island come back with their child in a returning Shaara Boat. It is an event found in many settlements, and in communities such as Urago and Funakoshi, the Boats can be 10m tall. It is truly a sight to behold during summer in the Mita Bay.
Shaara Boat (Funakoshi)
The tradition of constructing neighborhood boats started in the middle of the Meiji Period. Until then, every household constructed a boat: this tradition continues even now in Beppu (eastern part of Nishinoshima-cho).
In the past, the Shaara Boats were made from wheat straw, but during the high growth period the production of wheat dwindled and rice straw was used instead. Eventually, it became harder to obtain rice straw, even from nearby Nakanoshima, and now straw has been replaced with reed and thatch (such as in Funakoshi and Ootsu) or the wood from which the boats are made (such as in Hashi and Mitabe).
In Funakoshi, preparations for the boat begin on August 5; on August 8, a frame for the boat is constructed from wood. On the 9th, the exterior is covered in thatch; on the 13th, children visit their neighbors collecting flags. These flags are affixed to the mast on the 15th. At 6:00AM on August 16, the boats are carried by the people of the community to the bay where they complete three circuits of the bay being towed by a fishing boat. The women sing a pilgrim's Buddhist hymn as the boats are being towed. Finally, the boats exit the bay via Mita Bay and are towed towards Kijigahana point on the South side of Mt. Takuhi.
In Chinzaki and Mitabe, the Shaara Boat is treated as a portable shrine and goes around to the households with departed member(s) welcoming their first Obon, so that they can board the boat. In Chinzaki, after collecting the departed souls, the boat is smashed against the ground: this action suggests a peculiar sentiment towards departed souls! In Mitabe, the final act of the evening on the island is to see off the departed. This is to account for any lingering souls and to send them off as well. There is a legend on Nishinoshima that the God of the New Year arrives from Mitabe: given this legend and the practices during Obon, it may be that Mitabe is regarded as a special place in the minds of the people of Nishinoshima.
(2004 selection)
A Shaara Boat full of departed souls being smashed on the ground (Chinzaki)
A Shaara Boat heading towards the sunset (Mitabe)