Past, present and future traditions collide at the centuries-old Darkness Festival at Fuchu’s Okunitama Shrine, one of the oldest in the country. The shrine’s official website sets its age at approximately 1,900 years, when six regional shrines came together to establish a single place of worship to various “kami” (gods) that had been formerly residing in disparate areas of what was then known as Musashi Province. To celebrate this point of unity in the shrine’s history, there is a festival during Golden Week called Kurayami Matsuri (Darkness Festival). After plenty of preparty carousing leading up to the big day, the culminating events take place on the evening of May 5, when eight “mikoshi” (portable shrines) depart dramatically one-by-one through the gate of the main building, carrying the deities into nearby neighborhoods. (Josh Berg photos)
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