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
Chimaki shinji
Text
A festival held at Hikawa Shrine in Ōmiya City, Saitama Prefecture, on June 5. The ritual consists of offering rice cakes (chimaki) during the Tango no sekku (Boys' Festival). Miscanthus (kaya) leaves collected from a nearby marsh are cut into pieces of equal length, then used to wrap the rice cakes, which are further wrapped in straw. The two layers of wrapping are said to correspond to yin and yang (onmyō, onyō). Offerings including thirty chimaki are presented to the main shrine (honsha), five to each of the three auxiliary shrines (sessha) and twenty to the branch shrines (massha). Thus, the number of chimaki offered varies according to which shrine they are offered. The cakes are believed to ward off evil spirits and epidemics. Originally, the festival was celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar.
— Mogi Sakae

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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