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
Shioyutori shinji
Text
"Saltwater fetching rite."  A rite for fetching saltwater held August 4 at Kitaoka Shrine in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture. The rite immediately precedes the annual portable shrine procession (see shinkōsai) ceremony. Early in the morning, priests (shinshoku) and a representative of the parishoners (ujiko) hold a rite on a riverbank in Kumamoto City in which they collect water in two bamboo tubes that they take back for use for purification purposes (see shubatsu) in the shrine's main annual festival (reitaisai, see reisai). The riverbank at nearby Oshima Township is regarded as the location where the kami enshrined (saijin) at Kitaoka landed after being transferred (kanjō) from Kyōto's Gion district in ancient times. There are numerous examples of seawater fetching rites or visits to a shoreline that take place in advance of an annual festival.
In the annual festival held October 18–19 at Hanegi Hachiman Shrine in Tamana City, Kumamoto Prefecture, a youth in the role of festival leader referred to as the settō presents an offering called nanban gohei—white rice that has been wrapped up in white cotton cloth to resemble a kabocha squash, or Japanese pumpkin. (Nanban, or "southern barbarian," was a common term to refer to Portuguese and Spanish traders—who came to Japan from the south—and their wares in medieval and early modern times. Squash were among the items they introduced to Japan.) The festival also includes a procession (see shinkōsai) with the horse of the settō. First, a "seawater fetching rite" (shiotori no shinji) takes place. Then, the procession moves to its midway resting point (otabisho) at the riverbed, where purificatory ablutions are performed. A ritual purification wand (see ōnusa) referred to as the "seawater fetching wand" (shiotori gohei) is erected on the spot.
— Mogi Sakae

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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