Encyclopedia of Shinto

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詳細表示 (Complete Article)

カテゴリー1： 4. Jinja (Shrines)
カテゴリー2： Offerings and Talismans
Title
Ikenie
Text
A kind of offering (shinsen) in which a living animal is presented to the kami. A few such living offerings are still conducted today, including white chickens offered at the Grand Shrines of Ise. According to Engishiki, however, a variety of animals were offered in ancient times, including white boars, white chickens, and white horses. All such animals were released within the shrine precincts (keidai) after the ritual. In the section dealing with ritual materials, Kōtai Jingū gishikichō states that peasants belonging to dedicated shrine households (kanbe) in Shima Province provided ikenie to the Grand Shrines. An example in the fourth chapter of the Kamakura-period collection of legendary tales Ujishūi monogatari notes that a white boar was slaughtered and offered as an ikenie in a wind festival in Mikawa Province. The word ikenie ordinarily suggests a living thing, but as the preceeding example shows, this was not always the case. Similarly, many legends of human sacrifices are found throughout the country, though it is not clear to what degree the practice actually existed. See also shinsen.
— Iwai Hiroshi

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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