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Title |
Text |
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| 1 |
Mitoshiro-e shinji |
"The mitoshiro conclave rite." A rite held July 1 at Kamowakeikazuchi Shrine in Kita Ward, Kyoto City. The term mitoshiro refers to the rice fields attached to a shrine ( shinden ) used to grow the crops given as offerings to the kami . The festival is to have originated in 750 ... |
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| 2 |
Mohitori shinji |
"Taking the water offered to the kami rite." A rite held July 15 at the inner sanctuary ( okumiya ) of Ōkamiyama Shrine in Daisen Town, Saihaku District, Tottori Prefecture. A mohi is an earthenware container of ancient times that was used to serve water. The purpose of this ... |
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| 3 |
Momitawara tsuri |
"Hanging straw sacks of unhusked rice." A rite held on the eve of the Festival of Prayer for Agricultural Fertility ( kinensai ) in February at Kuroshima Shrine in Ikenojiri Town, Kan'onji City, Kagawa Prefecture. A scaffold is built on the shrine grounds ( keidai ) using u... |
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| 4 |
Momote shinji |
"The rite of the 100 hands." An archery rite held April 19 at Susa Shrine in Sada Town, Hikawa District, Shimane Prefecture. The word momote ("100 hands") means to shoot arrows one hundred times (shooting two arrows at a time). The day before, a procession symbo... |
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| 5 |
Morotabune shinji |
" Morotabune rite." A festival held on December 3 at Miho Shrine in Mihonoseki Town, Yatsuka District, Shimane Prefecture, whose origins lay in the myths regarding the transfer of the land ( kuniyuzuri ) to the descendents of the heavenly kami as recorded in Kojiki and Nih... |
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| 6 |
Mushi-sagashi shinji |
"Insect searching rite." A rite held August 7 at Miho Shrine in Mihonoseki Town, Yatsuka District, Shimane Prefecture. Shrine maidens ( miko ) put on old masks, take up sprigs of willow in their right hands and bells in their left, and pay their respects to the four directio... |
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| 7 |
Myōga Matsuri |
"Myōga ginger rite." A rite for divining the fortune of the upcoming year ( toshi-ura ) held January 3 at Asusuki Shrine in Kanegochi Town, Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture. On this day, the prospects for the rice harvest of the upcoming year are divined based on the condition o... |
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| 8 |
Nabekamuri matsuri |
"Pot crown festival." A festival held May 3 at Tsukuma Shrine (also known as Miketsu Shrine) in Maihara Town, Sakata District, Shiga Prefecture. This traveling kami festival ( shinkōsai ) is unusual in that the procession is joined by eight girls dressed in Heian period c... |
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| 9 |
Nanajūgozen sai |
"Seventy-five trays festival." A rite that takes place in spring and fall on the second Sundays of May and October at Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture. The ritual entails presenting seventy-five trays of food offerings ( shinsen ) to the seventy-five d... |
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| 10 |
Nanohana matsuri |
"Rape blossom festival." A rite held the first day of the snake in April at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture. Ceremonies that function as rites to indicate the start of a period of astinence ( monoimi ) for the festival are held at the shrine... |
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| 11 |
Nasubi shinji |
"Eggplant rite." A rite held September 27–28 at Suga Shrine in Daitō Town, Ōhara District, Shimane Prefecture. Eggplants ( nasubi ) are cut into two pieces; the blossom-end sections are cut with four notches and presented before the shrine's altar. Eggplants cut in this ... |
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| 12 |
Nedari matsuri |
"Blackmail festival." A rite held on the first day of the rooster in November at Toyosumi Shrine in Yui Town, Ihara District, Shizuoka Prefecture. Winter cod, sea bream, and abalone are served on cutting boards for a ritual banquet meal. The size of each serving is fixed, a... |
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| 13 |
Nemurinagashi no shinji |
A rite held on August 6 at Aso Shrine in Ichinomiya Town, Aso District, Kumamoto Prefecture. After a ceremony at Tazuwara Shrine, one of Aso's auxiliary shrines ( sessha ), a group of youths led by a lantern attached to a long staff ( takaharijōchin ) sing rice-planting songs as they com... |
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| 14 |
Nenneko shinji |
"Baby coat rite." A rite held on December 1 at Konoha Shrine in Koza Town, Higashi-Muro District, Wakayama Prefecture, to pray for easy childbirth and the healthy growth of children. Starting around 9:30 a.m., the baby nursing ritual ( komori no shinji ) begins. After r... |
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| 15 |
Nukiho no shinji |
"Harvested rice ear rite." A rite held October 9 at Hikawa Shrine in Ōmiya City, Saitama Prefecture. Dumplings made from grains harvested that year are presented before the altar along with newly harvested ears of rice. On October 29, a harvested rice ear festival ( nukih... |
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| 16 |
Nusubito matsuri |
"Thief's festival." A festival held November 24–25 at Karino Shrine in Kaibara Town, Hikami District, Hyōgo Prefecture. The festival's name is said to derive from the legend that the shrine's enshrined deity ( saijin ) was a thief chased away by the Ōyama deity. Another l... |
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| 17 |
Nyōdō sai |
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 t... |
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| 18 |
Nōmai shinji |
"Nō and dance rite." A festival held on February 15 at Ugan Shrine in Ikeda Town, Imadate District, Fukui Prefecture. Four den-gaku dance pieces and five Nō plays are performed at the shrine's hall of worship ( haiden ). These pieces are followed by a notto piece in which a ma... |
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| 19 |
Nōryōsen kōsai |
"Processional festival for boats to enjoy the summer evening cool." A rite held August 7 at Takebe Shrine in Ōtsu City, Shiga Prefecture. On August 1, a sakaki offering ceremony ( sakakitate shinji ) is held at the shrine's hall of worship ( haiden ). Following this, partic... |
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| 20 |
Obi matsuri |
" Obi festival." A rite of prayer for safe childbirth held once every three years from October 13-15 at Ōi Shrine in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. A daimyō gyōretsu (the reenactment of the procession of a feudal lord) follows a shin'yo togyo (portable shrine process... |
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