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
Yayoi Matsuri
Text
"Third month festival." An annual festival (reisai) takes place April 16-17 at Futarasan Shrine in Nikkō City, Tochigi Prefecture. The event was once known as the sangatsu yayoi no matsuri ("third-month yayoi festival," yayoi having been the name given to the third month in the old lunar calendar).  The festival period begins on the 13th. The portable shrine (shin'yo) of Takio Shrine begins its procession on the 14th and arrives at a site referred to as Takamagahara (see Takamanohara) on the grounds (keidai) of the main Futarasan Shrine on the 16th. The portable shrines from the main shrine (honsha) and the detached original shrine (betsugū hongū) come out to welcome their Takio counterpart, and sacred sake (miki) is offered to the three portable shrines. This is called the sake greeting rite (sake mukae shinji) or the Takamagahara rite. A ceremony takes place at the original shrine on the morning of the 17th. Hand dancing (teodori), a kyōgen play, and a dance by eight shrine virgins (yaotomemai) are performed as offerings on the shrine grounds. Two kinds of festival float (hanayatai and dashi) from the towns where the shrines are located and decorated with manmade cherry blossoms are pulled around the city in a parade before making their way to the main shrine. In the evening, a procession of the three portable shrines of the three Nikkō avatars (gongen) sets out with the festival floats from each town lead. After they have rested for a period at the original shrine, they return to the main Futarasan Shrine.
— Mogi Sakae

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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