Encyclopedia of Shinto

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詳細表示 (Complete Article)

カテゴリー1： 5. Rites and Festivals
カテゴリー2： Individual Shrine Observances
Title
Yutate shinji
Text
Water is boiled in a large pot before a shrine's altar in this rite. Female shrine attendants (miko) and priests (shinshoku) dip bamboo leaves in the hot water and splash the hot water on themselves by shaking the leaves. As they repeatedly splash hot water around the pot in time with music, they become possessed (kamigakari) and utter oracles (takusen). One theory holds that the rite derived in some way from the ancient divination tradition of kugatachi (see kukatachi)—in essence, that trial-by-ordeal ceremony used to determine a person's innocence or guilt came to be interpreted more broadly as also including the purpose of eliminating the pollutions (kegare) of festival participants. Another theory posits that the rite connotes rejuvenation through its use of "young water" (wakamizu, the first water drawn from a shrine's well at the New Year). A further theory suggests that this rite is performed to divine the will of kami.
A kugatachi rite celebrating the birthplace tutelary deity (ubusunagami) Matsuo-kami is held July 16 at Hirota Shrine in Nishinomiya City, Hyōgo Prefecture. This rite is also called yudate. A large pot is set up on the shrine's grounds (keidai) and a bamboo mat is laid on the top of the pot. Straw bundles are lined up on the mat and fire is set underneath the pot. An old lady with a cane, disguised as a shrine worker (ji'nin) wearing a straw hat, appears and asks, "What is it that you are steaming?"  From nearby comes a sung reply "We are looking for smallpox and measles."  A baby is brought in and held above the pot in such a way that it appears to be steamed.
Yudate rites were performed to eliminate smallpox and measles in Higashi-umezu, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto City.
The yudate rite is performed by a female shrine attendant (miko) at the hall of worship (haiden) on the last day of the festival held September 14–16 at Yokoyama Hachiman Shrine in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture. The attendant is possessed by the kami and utters oracles as she brings water to boil in a pot and stirs it.
Festivals combining water boiling with ritual performances (yudate kagura) take place from November through January at shrines in such places as Tenryū Village, Anan Town, Minamishinano Village, and Kami Village in Shimoina District, Nagano Prefecture; Toyone Village, Tsugu Village, and Tōei Town of Kitashitara District, Aichi Prefecture; and Mizukubo Town and Sakuma Town of Iwata District, Shizuoka Prefecture. These yudate rites are held to beseech the deities with prayers. When someone in this region wishes to make such a prayer request outside of the festival period, an assistant priest (negi) will perform a special yudate kagura to pray for recovery from illness and so on.
Many instances of yudate and kagura being combined can be found throughout Japan. In the Tōhoku region, yudate dances performed by female shrine attendants are widespread. Similarly, in the Kansai region, prior to the rice planting festival (onda matsuri) at Mutsugata Shrine in Kawanishi Town, Shiki District, Nara Prefecture, female attendants referred to as sonettan perform a yudate dance before a boiling pot of water.
While yudate performed by female shrine attendants may be common in the Tohoku region as noted above, in western Japan at festivals for ritual overseers (tōyasai; see tōya) it is shrine priests (shinshoku) who frequently perform these purification rites at the houses of the overseers. Additionally, at Suwa Shrine in Hakone Town, Ashigara District, Kanagawa Prefecture, there is a rite called yudate shishi-mai in which a performer in the role of the lion (shishi) performs yudate.
— Mogi Sakae

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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