AOMORI, Japan - The fishing town of Oma in northeastern Japan, famous for its branded tuna, has been deepening its ties with a Taiwanese temple through their shared reverence for the Taoist sea goddess Mazu, with hopes of attracting overseas tourists as well.
The goddess, also spelt Matsu in Taiwan and known as Maso or Tempi in Japan, has been worshipped in Oma for over 300 years as the protector of fishermen and seafarers. It has been jointly enshrined at a local Shinto shrine since the Meiji era (1868-1912), forming a unique faith in which Japanese culture and a foreign deity coexist.
The goddess is said to have been first brought to the town on the northernmost tip of Japan's main island in 1696 by Ito Gozaemon, a local headman involved in the marine transportation business, from a Mito domain coastal stronghold in eastern Japan, according to Hiromi Metoki, the 71-year-old chief priest of Oma Inari Shrine.
The town in Aomori Prefecture is famed for landing premium Pacific Bluefin tuna, with some fetching 100 million yen ($630,000) or more at the first auctions of the season. But it has endured periods of poor catches in the past.
Annual catches fell to just a few hundred kilograms for several years since 1986, and while they later recovered, it still stood at only around 22 tons in 1995.
The breakthrough came in 1996, however, after the town introduced a Taiwan-style procession for the goddess, following the donation of a new statue and festival equipment from Beigang Chao-Tian Temple in Taiwan's Yunlin County, considered a pinnacle of Mazu worship.
Catches surged to about 107 tons that year and 173 tons the following year, according to the local fishery cooperatives.
This year's parade and festival at sea, held on July 20, were organized to pray for a bountiful catch. Amid the crackle of firecrackers and the clang of gongs, a Mazu statue was carried through town on a float alongside participants dressed in colorful, foreign-style costumes imitating those of folk deities related to Mazu.
Among attendees at the event were about 20 representatives from Beigang Chao-Tian Temple.
Mazu worship is popular not only in Taiwan but also mainland China, Southeast Asia and among diaspora communities worldwide. Its beliefs and customs are inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
"We want to cherish the sea goddess who connects our town with the world," said Yoshinori Omi, head of Oma Tourism Association.
The town hopes the goddess will help attract visitors from overseas and plans to encourage ferry travel from Hokkaido's Hakodate, a city popular among foreign tourists across the Tsugaru Strait.
"I hope the excitement and affinity people would feel toward Mazu being here in Oma would help revitalize our town," Omi said.
