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
Nyōdō sai
Text
A festival that begins December 31 and ends before daybreak on January 1 at Ōmiwa Shrine in Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture. At midnight, the priest (shinshoku) uses a fireboard and drill to kindle a purified flame (imibi) to serve as a "divine fire" (goshinka). Following the ceremony, the divine fire is transferred to a giant torch and divided up among the worshippers. Starting around 2 a.m., worshippers crowd around in an attempt to transfer the divine fire from the torch to their own rope fuses or small torches. The speed at which the fire is transferred foretells one's fortune for the coming year. The divine fire of the giant torch and the offering (shinsen) torches is carried by about fifty people, who go around visiting 18 auxiliary (sessha) and branch shrines (massha) before returning to Ōmiwa Shrine around 5 a.m. The parishioners use this fire as an offering in their own household altars (kamidana) or to kindle a fire for cooking zōni, a traditional New Year's dish. Nyōdō ("wrap around road") apparently refers to walking around the foot of Mt. Miwayama Mountain.
— Mogi Sakae

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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