The festival has been held officially for over 50 years, but boasts a history of more than 800, with records going back as far as 1176. The ripples of this long history are reflected in the first part of the festival, the omikoshi shinko.<\/em> An omikoshi shinko<\/em> is a procession to move a kami<\/em> god, often from one shrine to another, or to return a kami<\/em> to the main shrine. Long ago in the 10th century, however, local shrines were less common, especially in smaller villages, and kami<\/em> were instead enshrined in houses. The omikoshi shinko<\/em> of the Mizukake Festival preserves this tradition. The procession thus winding down from Kashima Shrine to the house where the kami<\/em> was enshrined this year, a traditional, two-story farmhouse. Watching as the rites to move the kami<\/em> are conducted in the distinctly Showa era living room makes it feel as if we have slipped back in time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Back at the shrine, in an adjacent building, the elders are seated to a meal, as if at the last supper. Outside a crowd of locals and eager cameramen bustle at the edges of the roped arena, where the men gather around a large barrel and small tubs brimming with water. While this water may offer cool relief in the summer, in the brisk autumn air participants wet their bare legs and arms to brace themselves for the cold. The elders finish the rites and their meal, the men huddle closer to the water, the MC\u2019s inputs peter out and the crowd goes silent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly somebody calls \u2018Mizu da!,\u2019 and the whole scene erupts; water tossed in sweeping arches onto the elders inside. At first large wooden shutters are hauled out as defense but are soon abandoned, and a deep well full of water revealed in the buildings floor. The water-throwing now coming from both sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An agricultural town at the meeting point of two rivers, water was\nboth life-giver and life-taker to the people of Okayama. To be splashed with\nwater brings a person luck for the year and washes away sickness, but also sturdies\ntheir resolution against the rain and mud of floods and typhoons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/c57b85280141c6f2978562d2544d214e.jpg\")
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