Encyclopedia of Shinto

Main Menu:   
Links:   

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
Hataage shinji
Text
A rite is held on July 15 at Ayabe Hachiman Shrine in Nakabaru Town, Miyaki District, Saga Prefecture. A flag attached to a bamboo pole is placed in the gingko which is the shrine's sacred tree (shinboku). On this day, in charge of raising the flagpole into the sacred tree cleanse their bodies in a river and then undergo in a purification ceremony (oharae) conducted by shrine priests (shinshoku). Although the flag originally was not lowered until the middle day of the seven-day autumnal equinox period (higan), a flag-lowering ritual (Hataoroshi shinji) is presently held on September 25. On this day, shrine visitors receive amulets which they take home and place in rice fields, on the roof of the house or other wind-prone places for protection from strong winds. The way the flag moved in the wind was used to predict the weather for the coming year. Curling upward of the lower right and left edges of the flag was interpreted as an omen of violent windstorms.
— Mogi Sakae

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

No movie/映像なし