-Matsuri-

English Definition:
Japanese festivals

Matsuri are native Japanese festivals of sacred Shinto origin. Originally they related to the cultivation of rice and a local community's physical and spiritual well-being. Through feast and celebration, matsuri symbolize the community's unity with itself and with its Shinto gods ("kami.") Sometimes large and boisterous, sometimes small and solemn, sometimes adhering strongly to tradition, sometimes watered down by modern commercialism, matsuri are rooted in the lives of the Japanese.

Note: Matsuri relates to the craft, Yukata, Japanese summer cotton and silk kimonos, worn during Japanese summer festivals.