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
Shanichi
Text
An "irregular holiday" (zassetsu, a holiday celebrated on a day when the sun is not situated at one of the 24 equal divisions of its annual orbit) celebrated on the tsuchinoe days closest to the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Individually the two are called shunsha (the "vernal shanichi") and shūsha (the "autumnal shanichi"), but if one simply says shanichi then it usually refers to shunsha. Customs on these days include taking a break from farming and holding meetings of shanichikō (shanichi community associations) and chijinkō (earth kami community associations). Also, the spring shanichi is regarded as the standard day for the soaking and softening of seeds. In China, shanichi was a festival day for celebrating the sha (Ch: she), which refers to the "land deity," the "tribal deity," or the celebrations devoted to them. While the dates for these celebrations may have varied depending on the region and time period, generally in terms of purpose the spring shanichi was held to pray for agricultural production and the autumn shanichi was held to express gratitude for the harvest and to divine the coming harvest year. Japan's shanichi celebrations also originated in these practices; however, in the process of spreading throughout the land they turned into events of varied content. For example, in Tokushima Prefecture there is a custom of celebrating by calling on the ojishisama, or the kami of the locality, as the tōya (the secular households overseeing the ritual in their area) pounds mochi. In Nagano Prefecture, the "Shanichi-sama" is believed to be the ta no kami, or "kami of the fields." This kami is thought to descend from the mountains in the spring to watch over the rice cultivation and return again to the mountains in the fall. The kami is celebrated on both shanichi with the pounding of mochi. This holiday is known as "sajitsu," or "saji" in Oita Prefecture' Hida basin, where locals believe the kami Sakugamisama descends from heaven on the saji in February and ascends to heaven on the autumn saji. In one part of Fukuoka Prefecture's Kaho District, it is called oshioi and the custom is to bring home ocean sand and purify one's house within and without.
— Yumiyama Tatsuya

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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