A truly strange festival where one can complain regardless of hierarchy: “Chiba Warai”
You can’t speak badly of the CEO at your company because the hierarchical relationship is firmly established. Even if it was okay to say something bad, you’d be afraid of the consequences.
In the old days, people’s statuses were even more clearly divided, and if you spoke ill of the lord who ruled the area, you could be killed. However, there was one day when people could complain all they wanted, at a festival in Chiba Prefecture.
On the last day of the year, December 31st, a festival called “Chiba Warai” (warai means laughter) was held at Chiba-dera Temple in present-day Chiba Prefecture. Everyone who went to the festival wore a mask and didn’t know who anyone was.
The point of the festival was to laugh while complaining about people of higher status than oneself; things that couldn’t be said directly.
Pointing out the things you don’t like while laughing it off so that the next year will be better makes for a great festival, don’t you think?
Furthermore, by laughing and complaining about their superiors, they hoped that they would change their behavior so that they wouldn’t be complained about next year.
This festival has an interesting episode. The lord of Chiba Castle at the time, Chibanosuke, was the most important lord in the area. When he went to Chiba Temple wearing his mask, he saw a man and a woman talking loudly about him. He chased after them and their masks fell off, revealing the faces of Chibanosuke’s wife, daughter, and subordinates.
The appalled Chibanosuke was said to have returned to the castle with a single remark.
”Put on a mask or something!”
After Chibanosuke was gone, the occasion must have been a great success. This rather unusual festival was stopped for about 130 years after the Chiba-dera Temple was destroyed in a fire.
It has returned, but rather than wearing a mask and complaining, the emphasis has shifted to “laughter”.
Don’t you think it’s a great festival where you can get together with everyone at the end of the year and have a good laugh?
ABE KENGO
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