Encyclopedia of Shinto

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カテゴリー1： 5. Rites and Festivals
カテゴリー2： Rituals in Daily Life
Title
Toshi no ichi
Text
"Year-end fair." A fair held at the year's end for selling New Year's decorations and miscellaneous goods. Originally the last of the monthly fairs, it likely became particularly popular due to the simple fact that it sold goods for New Year's. Another theory suggests, though, that it had religious significance as a festival for the ancestors and for welcoming the kami at the New Year. Some fairs sell only specific goods such as wooden battledores (hagoita) for a badminton-like game, straw raincoats (mino), New Year's pine decorations (kadomatsu), and decorative straw wreaths and festoons (shimekazari) are sold. Because of the rustling sound made by the straw in shimekazari, the fair is also sometimes called the "rustling fair" (gasa ichi). On New Year's Eve the goods are sold at discounted giveaway prices, prompting some to also call it the "sell-off fair" (sute ichi). In the Tōhoku region, this event is often called the tsumemachi ("closing fair") because the close of the year is often referred to as tsume ("final," "finish," or "end"). In the Edo period the "six grand fairs" were held at Fukagawa Hachiman Shrine (held the 14th and 15th of the twelfth month); Asakusa Kannon (the 17th and 18th); Kanda Myōjin (the 20th and 21st); Shiba Myōjin (the 22nd and 23rd); Shiba Atago Gongen (the 24th); and Hirakawa Tenman Shrine (the 25th and 26th). Battledores are sold at the Asakusa Kannon fair, and it has been commonly referred to as the "battledore fair" (hagoita ichi). Other year-end fairs have also flourished aside from these, such as the Daitōsai (held December 10) at Hikawa Jinja in Ōmiya-ku, Saitama.
— Yumiyama Tatsuya

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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