8Kikujido Kasaboko
The Kikujido (The Boy with the Chrysanthemums) kasaboko is from Miyano-machi, a former castle town of Yatsushiro Castle, and is the oldest of all the kasaboko.
Kikujido is a boy who appears in the song (Noh script), Makurajido (Jido and Pillow), who remained youthful even with the passing of 700 years after writing the lines of the Lotus Sutra graciously gifted to him by the Emperor on the leaves of a chrysanthemum, when the dew drops from the chrysanthemum became an elixir for immortality. This story represents people’s desire for immortality.
The name of Miyano-machi is derived from being a part of Monzen-machi, which was once in Myōken Shrine (Yatsushiro Shrine). Since it has a deep-rooted relationship with Myōken Shrine, the Kikujido kasaboko travels in front of the other kasaboko in the procession and is customarily always kept in the service of Myōken Shrine, regardless of the weather.
