3/03/2011

Yahiko Niigata

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Four Seasons in Yahiko


Cherry blossoms
Peak: Early April to early May of every year
Place: Yahiko Shrine Sakura-en, Yahiko Park, Yahiko summit, Yahiko Station area, Gaienzaka-dori Street, etc

National High School Invitational Ekiden Relay Race in Yahiko 
Date: Last Saturday of every March


Yukake (Hot Water Splashing) Festival
Date: Mid-April of every year
Place: Yahiko Station - Yahiko Hot-Spring Resort - Yahiko Shrine.
The "Yukake" Festival begins by receiving hot-spring water from Yu Shrine where a sacred spring has been running for thousands of years.
A praying ritual is performed with a tub containing the water borne on the shoulders of the participants. Once the ritual is over, the tub containing the sacred hot water is mounted on a Yubiki-guruma cart, which is then wheeled through the hot-spring resort area as Kiyari chants are performed. As the sacred hot water is splashed over the spectators using bamboo branches with green leaves, those spectators pray for sound health, good luck, business success, and success in their exams.
Everyone is welcome to participate.


Daidai Kagura (National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property)
Date: April 18 of every year


Opening of Mt. Yahiko  
Date: Mid-April of every year
This mountain opening event marks the start of the Mt. Yahiko sightseeing season in the lively spring atmosphere.

Yahagi Hono Sato-kaguramai Dance
(Village-Designated Cultural Property)
Date: April 24 of every year

Bonsai Exhibition Dedicated to Yahiko Shrine
Date: April 29 - May 5 of every year


Yahiko Firefly Festival

Date: Mid-June of every year

Yahiko Lantern Festival
Date: July 24 - 26 of every year
The Yahiko Lantern Festival, the village's traditional summer festival, is a three-day event where the local people enthusiastically get together. While the festival was traditionally held around June 14 by the lunar calendar, this was changed in 1961 to keep up with the times.
The festival is now held around June 25. On the night of July 25, a mystical parade featuring large lanterns dedicated by Dai-touro Kochu groups from around the prefecture, and numerous small Sho-dengaku lanterns offered by local parishioner groups, are carried through the streets, with two Mikagura floats at the center of the parade and attended by two dancing children - Kagaraku and Amainumai - along with the chief priest, other priests and shrine officials. Accompanied by cheerful Doraku music that is played by court musicians, the parade of lanterns – that is more than one kilometer long – departs from the shrine and then circuits the town for about two hours before returning to the front of the worship hall.
Then, the large lanterns are hung around a dancing stage set up in front of the worship hall, where the centuries-old Kagaraku and Amainumai dances are performed. The dancing ends at midnight. On the following day – the 26th – the Kangyosai festival is held, which completes the series of Shinto rituals.


Chrysanthemum Festival
Date: November 1 - 24 of every year


Ninen-mode and Hatsu-mode
(First Shrine Visit of the Year)
Date: December 31 - Mid-January of every year


Yumi Hajime Shinto Ritual
Date: January 7 of every year
On January 7, the Yumi Hajime Shinto ritual, an annual New Year event, is performed at Yahiko Shrine. This is an ancient Shinto ritual for expelling evil and praying for good luck and bumper crops in the coming year.


Kayuura Sumioki Shinto Ritual
Date: January 15 and 16 of every
Kayu Uranai
This is a mysterious Shinto ritual that is nowadays held only by this shrine. It is conducted at the beginning of the year in the hope of finding an oracle, praying for bumper crops and forecasting the weather conditions for the year. First, the "XX-sai" ceremony is held in the evening of January 15. On the following day – the 16th – the "Shinsen no Gi" ceremony is performed before dawn in a special building called the "Meshi-dono".
While the ritual is not open to the public, farmers have profound faith in the results of the fortune telling, which are not only posted in the shrine precincts but also printed and then distributed to 20,000 Hatsuho-ko group members around the prefecture.


source : www.vill.yahiko.niigata.jp

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

. WKD : Festivals in Niigata .


. Shrine Echigo Ichi no Miya 越後一の宮 .


*****************************
Related words

***** . OBSERVANCES – SUMMER SAIJIKI .


. Amulets and Talismans from Japan . 

BACK : Top of this Saijiki

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

1 comment:

Gabi Greve said...

uranai 占い fortune telling, divination

The people of Edo were very fond of fortune telling of all kinds.

.
http://edoflourishing.blogspot.jp/2016/05/uranai-fortune-telling.html
.