June 3, 2015
Children Celebrate a Water Goblin – The Enkou Festival of the Ushirogawa Basin
Mitsuoki Umeno, Kochi Prefectural Museum of History
Every year on the first Saturday of June, the Enkou Festival is held in 9 regions encompassing the Maehama, Hisaeda, and Shimojima districts of Nankoku City located on the Ushirogawa basin just south of the gateway to the skies, the Kochi Ryoma Airport, in Kochi prefecture.
Enkou is a water goblin (known as a kappa in other prefectures) associated with many legends, such as reports of Enkou pulling both man and horse into a river, humans learning how to make medicine from the Enkou, or children of the Enkou being born. The Enkou Festival is meant to be a prayer to prevent children from drowning, and used to be held in various locations in the Kacho Plains in the past; however, it is now rarely held outside of Maehama and Hisaeda.
One characteristic about the Enkou Festival of this region is that children manage all aspects of the festival. Groups of primary and middle school male students elect a "general" (usually the oldest boy in the group) to organize their activities. In recent years, there have been fewer children, so girls and even adults have stepped in to help. The children, with help from adults, gather iris plants from nearby rivers and waterways to make a small shrine for the Enkou (known as a Shobugoya or Oyashiro).
Children gathering iris plants by the river
A paper lantern is hung from the parapet of the bridge, and the shrine is placed under it. In the evening, everyone gathers at the general's house or at a community center to share a meal, which is followed by fireworks. Leading up to the day of the festival, the children solicit donations from their respective households, and use the funds to buy offerings (for the shrine) and fireworks. At dusk, the paper lanterns are lit (most are bulbs nowadays), and the piercing sounds of fireworks starts to drown out the quiet in the region. The people of the community visit the shrines, and it is customary to enjoy some sake and pickled cucumbers (the Enkou's favorite) while watching the firework display. The fireworks continue for about an hour and end when it is completely dark. In Hisaeda District, the bottom of the lantern is cut off and a candle is lit and placed on this bottom, which is floated down the river while people sing a song called "The flowing river of Enkou." The festival comes to a close when the candle light can no longer be seen.
The origins of the Enkou Festival in the Ushirogawa basin are unknown; however, a June 16, 1806 diary entry by Kanzaemon Mori states that many lanterns adorned the riverbanks of the castle town in Tosa province (present-day Kochi prefecture) for the Enkou Festival, indicating that there was once an Enkou Festival held here.
In March 2011, the Enkou Festival was chosen as an intangible folk cultural property that needs measures such as making records. Upon receiving the designation, the Nankoku City Educational Committee founded the Investigational Committee in 2013, whose purpose is to conduct listening sessions on past festival events, as well as the current state of the festival.
Enjoying fireworks in front of the shrine for the Enkou
Lanterns adorn the bridge