Encyclopedia of Shinto

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カテゴリー1： 5. Rites and Festivals
カテゴリー2： Individual Shrine Observances
Title
Otariya matsuri
Text
Kami procession festivals held at Futarayama Shrine in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture. The word "otariya" is said to refer to procession festivals (togyo matsuri) and can be written with characters meaning "passage festival." The festival is held twice yearly, marking the transition to spring on January 15 and the transition to winter on December 15. Another interpretation holds that the word otariya comes from characters that mean "the night of dangling." After nightfall, the spirits of the kami are brought down and transferred to a portable shrine (shin'yo). They proceed to the Tōshōgū branch shrine (see sessha, massha) in the northwest corner of the grounds of the main shrine where a dengakumai (see saru-gaku, den-gaku) dance is performed as an offering. The procession travels around the neighborhood and returns to the shrine. This festival is said to provide miraculous protection against fire. During the festival, people refrain from using fire and are prohibited from preparing baths and from putting their feet in the hearth. In addition, the coins that have been thrown toward the portable shrine during the procession and fall to the ground are picked up and treated as charms for protection against fire.
— Mogi Sakae

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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