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
Tamasaki jūnisha matsuri
Text
"Tamasaki twelve-shrine festival." A "combined shrine" (sōsha) festival held September 10–13 at Tamasaki Shrine in Ichinomiya Township, Chōsei District, Chiba Prefecture. The festival is also known as "the naked festival of the Ichinomiya" (Ichinomiya no hadaka matsuri). Bākamisama, the kami of Uba Shrine in the neighboring village, is welcomed at Machiyama in a stately rite held on the 10th. Bākamisama is said to be the mother of Tamayorihime, the kami enshrined at Tamasaki Shrine. The portable shrines (shin'yo) for Tamasaki Shrine are washed in a ceremony called the omisurisai on the 12th, and portable shrines from the 12 shrines in the vicinity congregate at Tamasaki. The actual festival is held September 13. When the ceremony is concluded, two portable shrines—known respectively as Ōmiyasama and Wakamiyasama—from the main shrine are taken on a ritual procession. They pass through the town and come out onto the beach. The portable shrines from the other shrines are brought to greet them. They are raced gallantly down a road that trails the two Tamasaki shrines by some six kilometers and carried pounding through the surf in a race to be first to Tsurigasaki, located at the southern tip of Kyūjūkuri Beach. Given that each portable shrine is accompanied by scores of men including one who is completely naked, the competition is an epic one that brings together nearly one thousand people. In the past, the other portable shrines are said to have met those of the main shrine at the ritual site at Tsurigasaki. During the ceremony at Tsurigasaki, the men carrying the portable shrine from Nakahara in Daitō Township chant, "Nēsan saraba, rainen gozare!" ("Farewell, Miss!  Come again next year!") while the other shrines are lifted in unison in a gesture of farewell. The portable shrines from Tamasaki are then taken back to the shrine. The goddess of Uba Shrine on this day receives salt from the small sanctuary on the shore (hama no miya) attached to Tamasaki Jinja and her portable shrine is then returned home.
— Mogi Sakae

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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