Tsubaki-Fes

One flower native to Japan is the “椿 / Tsubaki / camellia₋japonica”.

It is not a grass flower but a tree flower, and trees grow from 50 cm to 10 metres high. Generally, the flowers are preferred to those that bloom on trees less than human height.

The flowers are of moderate size, neither too large nor too small. The flowers are popular for their pretty appearance against the dark green foliage.

The two basic flower colours are red and white, but there are numerous subspecies due to their long-loved and improved breeding.

It was introduced abroad around the 17th century. The plant’s cold hardiness, evergreen foliage and flowers in winter even in the shade have led to an increase in the number of enthusiasts in Europe and the USA.

 

Tsubaki has not only beautiful flowers, but its fruits and leaves are also of medicinal and culinary value.

Tsubaki oil, extracted from the fruit (seeds) after the flowers have fallen, is of particularly high quality and has been used as a high-grade cooking oil since ancient times. From the time of the Samurai, the more refined Tsubaki oil was also used as a hair oil, which is still available today.

Seeds collected from (Tsubaki)camellia nuts.

Sake is a typical Japanese brew, and an archaic method of sake brewing (fermentation) involves the use of ‘wood ashes’. Ashes made from burning Tsubaki trees are said to work best for this.

 

Because of its many uses and good appearance, the Tsubaki has long been a favourite flower of the Japanese people and a flower of good omens. It was also regarded as a flower that warded off bad luck and brought long life…

Dogo Onsen, in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, is one of the oldest hot-spring centres in Japan with many therapeutic baths. Nearby, there is a shrine called ‘o-Tsubaki-san’ (a term of endearment for Tsubaki) by the local people.

The official name of the shrine is 「伊豫豆比古命神社(Iyozuhiko-jinjya / Shinto shrine)」.
It is said to have been founded in BC, but the exact date is unknown.

In ancient times, the area around the shrine was coloured with beautiful Tsubaki, hence the name ‘Tsubaki Shrine’, which is also familiar to the public.

The four main deities are “伊豫豆比古命(Iyozuhiko)”, “伊豫豆比売命(Iyozuhime)”, “伊予主命(Iyonushi)” and “愛比売命(Ehime)”. Ehime Prefecture is now named after this ‘Ehime’.
(Sigh… Ancient names of people and gods are full of Chinese characters, and on top of that, many of them are not used today, which is tiring!(^_^;)

 

Iyozuhiko” and “Iyonushi” are thought to be the people who probably developed and governed the area in ancient times, and “Iyozuhiko-jinjya” is thought to be a shrine dedicated to them.

But why is this shrine called ‘o-Tsubaki-san’ by the locals?
Shrine lore suggests two reasons for this.

The first is that the shrine may have originally been called the ‘Shrine of Tsuwaki’. The word ‘Tsuwaki’ is an archaic word for ‘Tsu’ (beach) and ‘waki’ (beside), meaning ‘the shrine that was beside the beach’. (Until a few hundred years ago, the area was an inlet of shallow water.)

The theory is that ‘Tsuwaki’ be corrupted to ‘Tsubaki’ over time.

The second theory is that, as the name ‘Tsubaki’ implies, the area around this shrine has been a beautiful Tsubaki colony since ancient times. This has a high level of support as folklore.

Either way, the current appellation ‘o-Tsubaki-san’ seems to have a strong ‘Tsubaki / camellia’ meaning.

 

The Tsubaki-Matsuri (Festival) is held at the Iyozuhiko-jinjya in February.

As it is a shrine festival, solemn rituals take place in the shrine, but outside the shrine there are hundreds of lively stalls that are familiar to the general public.

Iyozuhiko-jinjya is also the god of ‘fishing development’ and ‘business prosperity’, and attracts as many as 500,000 people during the three-day festival.

You will get a taste of the old Japanese ‘En-nichi’, filled with ‘lucky charms’ and stall sellers. (En-nichi = temple or shrine fair)

There is one unspoken rule when visiting the Iyozuhiko-jinjya…

To the left of the main shrine of Iyozuhiko-jinjya is a small mountain called Funa-yama, where Tsubaki trees are in full bloom. There is a small shrine called ‘Sōjya-sha’ in it, and the official procedure is to visit there first and then go to the main shrine.

In ancient times, when this area was still by the sea, the god Iyozuhiko-jinjya brought his ship close to Funa-yama. The reason for this is that the god ‘Shionaru-tagutsuna-god’ took the reins of the boat and pulled it in, inviting the Iyozuhiko god to come along.

The ‘Shionaru-tagutsuna-god’ is said to be the ‘sea turtle god’ in the ‘Urashima Tarō’.

 

In Ehime Prefecture, it is said that after the Tsubaki-Matsuri festival, the season will start to warm up a little more.
The cold season will continue for a little while longer, but we would like to welcome spring in good spirits by sharing the power of the lively festival.

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