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
Hani-tsukai
Text
An observance held at Sumiyoshi Shrine (Sumiyoshi Taisha) in Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, twice a year, at the beginning of February and the beginning of November. Clay for making the earthenware platters hiraka used in festivals is brought from Mt. Unebi in Yamato. Ten days before the festival, two messengers (hanitsukai) and a carrier (hanibakomochi) are sent to the mountain to retrieve the clay. After performing ablutions in the sea (misogi), they climb Mt. Unebi in Kashiwara, Nara Prefecture and perform ritual services at Unebi Yamaguchi Shrine, halfway up the mountain. They ward off impurity by putting sakaki leaves into their mouths and collect three and a half handfuls of clay from the old shrine grounds at the on the mountaintop. This is called the Clay-Collecting Rite. The clay is then placed in a special box and taken back to the shrine, where it will be used to make a flat platter (hiraka) for ritual food offerings (shinsen) at the Kinen Festival in spring and the Niiname Festival in autumn. In the past, messengers climbed Mt. Unebi as a procession of mounted warriors. On the occasion of The origin of the festival is said to date back to Emperor Jinmu's expedition to the east, when he had clay collected from Ama-no-kagu, a mountain held by the enemy, in order to make hiraka platters.
— Mogi Sakae

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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