Fire Festivals (hi matsuri)

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Fire festivals, fire ceremonies (hi matsuri　火祭り)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: various, see below
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Fire festivals and rituals are quite popular in Japan.
Feuerfeste, himatsuri



Fire Festivals, hi no saiten 火の祭典
People carry torches at night.


Fire Rituals, goma 護摩, goma ku 護摩供
Mostly of the Shingon Sect, where talismans are consecrated and old talismans burned in a sacred fire inside a hall or a large sacred bonfire outside. Sometimes at the end ascetics and laymen alike walk through the hot embers (hiwatari matsuri, see below).



Most temples dedicated to the deity Fudo Myo-O have a fire ritual on the 28 of each month, the memorial day of Fudo Myo-O　不動明王 and special first and last rituals of the year, on December (osame Fudo) and January (hatsu Fudo).





Some fire festivals are also famous as "naked festivals", hadaka matsuri, see LINK below.


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... ... ... ... SPRING

. Aso Shrine Festivals 阿蘇神社
hiburi matsuri 火振り祭 (ひぶりまつり)
"fire-swinging festival"


Kihara Fudo Fire Walking Festival ... 木原不動尊 Kumamoto. Hiwatari matsuri.

Konoita Fudo Fire Walking Festival ... 高板山不動堂 Yashima, Shikoku. Hiwatari matsuri.

Otomatsuri (otoo matsuri 御灯祭, お燈まつり, 御燈祭) Torch Festival Kumano, Wakayama



.Saga no hashira taimatsu
嵯峨の柱炬 (さがのはしらたいまつ)
Saga torch ceremony 　　
at Saga, Kyoto. March 15
..... Saga o-taimatsu 嵯峨御松明（さがおたいまつ）
..... hashira taimatsu 柱松明（はしらたいまつ）
..... o-taimatsu 御松明（おたいまつ）







. Hiwatari matsuri 高尾山の火渡り祭
fire-walking ritual at Mt. Takao 　
second sunday of March



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... ... ... ... SUMMER

Hanabi Senkoo 花火線香 > Firework Display (hanabi, Japan)

. Nachi no himatsuri 那智の火祭り
Fire Festival at Nachi
oogi matsuri 扇祭（おうぎまつり) hand fan festival
At shrine Nachi Taisha. July 14.
one of the three largest fire festivals of Japan


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... ... ... ... AUTUMN

Daimonji 大文字、大文字焼 Great Seeing-Off Fire in Kyoto
and other fire ceremonies during Bon Festival (o-bon) お盆

... ... ...

Kurama no hi matsuri 鞍馬の火祭 Kurama Fire Festival
くらまのひまつり. October 22
..... kanname sai 神嘗祭（かんなめさい）
..... kanjoo sai 神嘗祭（しんじょうさい）

It is said to reenact the scene of the enshrined deity greeted after traveling from the Imperial Palace to Kurama-no-Sato village, at the end of the Heian Period. On the evening of the 22nd watch fires are lit at the entrances to the local houses, and at 6:00 in the evening the town is lit up with torches carried by children.

Soon after that the local people, wearing straw warrior sandals, parade through the streets carrying a great torch and yelling along the way until they gather at the sacred precincts of the shrine. Two portable shrines amid the sparks from the torches present a grand sight. The return celebration is held on the 23rd.


© Copyright (C) Kyoto Prefecture


. WKD : Festivals at Kurama 　


... ... ...


Yoshida Fire Festival (Yoshida himatsuri, Yoshida chinkasai) 吉田の火祭り
Fujiyoshida Town
Fuji Sengen Jinja no Himatsuri 富士浅間神社の火祭り


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... ... ... ... WINTER

Bellows Festival (fuigo matsuri)

. shiwasu matsuri 師走祭り Shiwasu festival .
at Mikado Jinja 神門神社 in Miyazaki, Kyushu
Celebrating a deified Korean king and his sons.


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... ... ... ... NEW YEAR

Many Fire rituals on January 1 are held for the people to take home some sacred embers or fire to light the own hearth fire for the first soup of the year.
Water for this soup is called Wakamizu　若水 "young water" .


初護摩 Hatsu-goma, First Fire Ceremony in honor of Fudo Myo-O
..... Oyama Fudo, Fire Ceremony


Kaji hajime 鍛冶初, First use of the smithy
..... Hatsu kamado 初竃, first fire in the stove

... ... ...

Nyoodoosai 繞道祭 にょうどうさい Nyoodoo Festival
gojinka matsuri 御神火まつり（ごじんかまつり）
At the great shrine in Miwa in Nara prefecture. 大神神社（桜井市三輪）
At night on January 1.
People try to catch some embers or light ropes and take the fire home to light the own hearth fire for the first soup of the year.

© Nyodosai. More photos are here !

Look at all the Festivals of Omiwa Shrine

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Okera mairi 白朮詣 Okera Festival at Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto

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Oniyo Fire Festival 鬼夜（おによ）"Demon's Night"
Daizenji Town, Kurume, Fukuoka
January 7.
Big pine torches are carried around (taimatsu mawashi). This festival goes back more than 1600 years. In 368 A.D. a local low-ranking officer took revenge on a nobleman, who was very cruel, and killed him with a large torch. Nowadays, this festival is intended to cleanse the shrine compound of evil spirits. People pray for the wellbeing in the coming year.
Since 1955 it is an important cultural property.
Tarutama Shrine, 玉垂宮 久留米大善寺



PHOTO © The Nishinippon Shimbun.

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Sagichoo Festival 左義長
Fire Rituals and Coming of Age Ceremonies


. Sagichoo Matsuri 左義長まつり Sagicho Festival.
at Omi Hachiman 近江八幡
Omi Hachiman no Hi matsuri (Omihachiman Shrine fire festival)


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Toba himatsuri 鳥羽火祭 (とばひまつり) Toba Fire Festival

On the second sunday of February
at the shrine Toba Shinmeisha 鳥羽神明社 in Aichi
愛知県幡豆郡幡豆町

After all men are purified in the cold water of the sea, to men who are in their un-auspicious year (yakudoshi 厄年) have to jump over large pine torches and then they fight over 12 ropes.
The result is like an oracle for the weather and a good harvest of the coming year.
Mikawa-Toba Fire Festival

quote
The fire festival of Toba-Shinmeisha
(Himatsuri, registered as the National Intangible Folk Cultural Property)
Toba-no-himatsuri, the fire festival of Toba, dates back to more than 1200 years ago, taking place on the second Sunday of February every year. It is a festival of divination that forecasts the harvest of the coming year, by dividing the local area into the east team and the west team: “Fukuji” and “Kanji”.
They finish the ritual purification “Misogi” in the afternoon.


At about 8pm, men in their strange costumes made from old festival banners jump into two great bonfires called “Suzumi”, in order to look for the “Shingi”, the holy tree, as well as the 12 ropes signifying the months of the year. The men are often referred to as ‘Neko’, i.e. cats.
The sight of men passionately fighting against the flames is simply breath taking. According to legend, the chopsticks made from the embers prevent bad teeth, and the same embers used for sericulture secures good silk.
source : www.city.nishio.aichi.jp


- Reference : Videos of the Festival


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The following are not listed in the saijiki:

Taimatsu Torches Festival in Sukagawa city, Fukushima
November 12, 2011

It's one of the three largest fire festivals in Japan. Sukagawa Taimatsu Akashi, or torches fire festival, took place on November 12th at Gorosan of Sukagawa-city in Fukushima prefecture attracting many spectators.
This time round, the organizing committee of the festival refrained from using the local pine trees due to suspected radiation from the nuclear plant's accident. Yet, many volunteers from all over Japan sent their branches of pine trees, thus made it possible to stage the fire event.
The Taimatsu Akashi, or pine tree torches fire, was lighted off from the top of the twenty large torches, some 10 meters high and three tons each.
The Taimatsu Akashi festival originated in 1589 to pay respects to the late lord of Sukagawa who was overthrown by Date Masamune. In order to ward off their would-be attackers, residents constructed a number of giant torches and set them alight on top of a hill.
The festival includes a parade, during which the 10m long torches are carried throught the streets of the town, before finally being erected on top of Midorigaoka park and then set alight. Torches are constructed or sponsored by local schools and businesses, whose students or employees later carry them in the parade.
source :　www.allvoices.com

Even after the big earthquake
松明あかし　須賀川

source : city.sukagawa.fukushima.jp


. Fukushima Folk Art　－ 福島県 .


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Worldwide use

last Tuesday of January
Up-Helly-Aa Lerwick, Shetland Islands.
Norse ancestors welcomed the return of the sun god with Yule,
a 24-day period of feasting, storytilling, and bonfires. The last night
of the festival was caalled up-Helly-Aa or End of the Holy Days.ﾓ
model Viking boat is carried in night procession and burned with torches.

Jan 27
Birthday of Zoroaster, 6th cent. BC Persian fire-prophet

Jan 31
Celtic - Traditional Eve of Imbolc (Brigid's Day)
..... Brigid's Day (Ireland) St. Brigid

READ MORE
Fire Festivals and Ceremonies of the World

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

火祭や炎切り取るカメラの目 (カメラアイ)
himatsuri ya hono kiritoru kamera ai

fire festival -
the camera cuts through
the flames

野田ゆたか Noda Yutaka, Kurama Fire Festival
http://www2.ezbbs.net/cgi/bbs?id=haiku&dd=39&p=5

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Related words


***** Hadaka Matsuri, Naked Festivals


***** . Kebesu festival (kebesu sai ケベス祭)


***** . Ota Fire Festival 太田の火まつり 　
Daisen town, Akita



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God of the Year (toshi toku jin)

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. Legends about Toshitokujin .
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Deity of the Year (toshi toku jin, toshitokujin)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: New Year
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

According to ancient Asian lore, the new year comes with a new deity, the
"Deity of the Year" toshitokujin 歳德神.
Said to be female.
Since she likes her place to be clean and tidy, people have to clean their homes too to welcome her.
. cleaning at the end of the year
kure no sooji, kure no oo sooji くれのそおじ .
susuharai 煤払 cleaning the soot

He is welcomed to stay in the
. kadomatsu 門松 pines (decorations) at the gate .
until the 7th day of the New Year.
This time is called "matsu no uchi", inside the home with the pine decorations.
The New Year decorations must be set up a few day before the last day of the year.
Otherwise they will be
ichiya kazari　一夜飾り one-night decorations, an unlucky omen.
And they are taken down on the seventh day.


This is part of the Yin-Yang Theory of China, called "onmyoodoo 陰陽道" in Japanese.



He is celebrated in a part of the estate which shows to the auspicious direction of this year (ehoo　恵方). People erect a small shelf with sacred decorations for the purpose and pray for a boutifull harvest and good luck as farmers.

In some parts of Japan, a special pine pole is erected in this direction,
auspicious pine pole, ogamimatsu　拝み松.


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More kigo in this context

God of the year, toshigami 年神（としがみ）
toshitoku 年德（としとく）
toshitoku san 年德さん（としとくさん）
..... wakadoshi san 若年さん（わかどしさん）
"Mr. New Year" shoogatsu san 正月さん（しょうがつさん）

toshi jisan 年爺さん（としじいさん） "grandfather of the year"
o toshi sama お年さま（おとしさま)



shelf for the new year, toshidana 年棚（としだな）
..... toshi toku dana 歳德棚（としとくだな）
"shelf in the auspicious direction", ehoodana 恵方棚（えほうだな）
"shelf for a boutiful year", hoonen dana 豊年棚（ほうねんだな）
"straw bag for the year", toshidawara 年俵（としだわら）



とぶ工夫猫のしてけり恵方棚
tobu kufuu neko no shite keri ehoodana

the cat gets ready
to jump on it -
shelf in the auspicious direction
Tr. Gabi Greve

. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 .


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A special shrine for the New Year
- 正月寺歳徳神社

Toshitoku Jinja, Fukushima, Iwaki Town
福島県いわき市小川町上平字田之尻４７
This shrine was built more than 1500 years ago.




It will be especially visited in January 2012, after the great earthquake and the destruction done in Fukushima and Iwaki town.


Shrine for the New Year



Toshitokujin Deity


Other festivals :
nanatsu mairi 「七つ詣（まい）り」
for children of the age of 7
Juusan mairi 「十三詣り」for children at the age of 13

Check here for more photos:
source : www.toshitokujinja.jp


If I remember well, the access road to the shrine had been damaged and is now in repair to make it accessible till the New Year visit for 2012.

. Japan after the BIG earthquake March 11, 2011　.


There are other temples of the same name 歳徳神社 in other parts of Japan.

米子市東福原8-10 Yonago, Tottori
兵庫県姫路市, Himeji, Hyogo

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quote
Toshigami, Toshitokujin
A kami that visits during the New Year's season, heralding the advent of the New Year, also called Shōgatsu-sama (lit., "Honorable New Year").

The name Toshitokujin has origins in Chinese Yin-Yang divination (Jp. Onmyōdō), and refers to a goddess with dominion over auspicious directions (ehō) for the current year. The Toshitokujin cult thus involves a core of ancient beliefs in the appearance of a kami at the first of the year and who assures an abundant harvest, to which has been added additional elements of Chinese divination cults.

Observances to the kami of the new year are ordinarily held by individual families, who prepare a special altar apart from their ordinary kamidana, called variously toshigamidana, toshitokudana, or ehōdana; such altars may be decorated with shimenawa and mirror-shaped rice cakes (kagami mochi), rice, dedicatory sake (mike) and salt.

Derived from the cult of Onmyōdō, the names toshitokudana and ehōdana indicate that each year's auspicious direction (ehō) is under the influence of the Toshitokujin. In some areas, a pillar called ogamimatsu ("supplication pine"), or pine branches may be erected beside the hearth as a vehicle or medium (yorishiro) for the kami's presence.

Both the conventional toshigami and the toshitokujin of Onmyōdō are alike in appearing during the New Year's season, but based on correspondences with the "spirit altar" (shōryōdana) of the summer Obon rites, and other similarities between ceremonies of New Year's and Obon, it is believed that the the toshigami represents a relatively earlier form of cult than that of the toshitokujin.
source : Iwai Hiroshi, 2005, KokuGakuIn


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© PHOTO Wikipedia
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%B3%E5%BE%B3%E7%A5%9E


Visit in the auspicious direction, ehoo mairi
..... 恵方詣 えほうまいり , ゑはうまゐり
Visit to a temple or shrine in the lucky direction of the year

auspiciuos direction, ehoo, ehô 恵方（えほう）、ehoo michi 恵方道（えほうみち）、ehoo 吉方（えほう）、兄方（えほう）、得方（えほう）、 元方（えほう）、
aki no kata (aki no hoo, aki no hô) 明の方, 明きの方（あきのかた）

praying in the auspicious direction, ehoo ogami 恵方拝（えほうおがみ）


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- - - - - Kobayashi Issa - - - - -

おくさがや恵方に出し杖の穴
oku Saga ya ehoo ni ideshi tsue no ana

deep in Saga--
my New Year's walk
follows holes made by canes


大原や恵方に出し杖の穴
ôhara ya ehô ni ideshi tsue no ana

big field--
my New Year's walk
follows holes made by canes



大雪や出入りの穴も 明きの方
ooyuki ya deiri no ana mo aki no kata

a big snow--
the exit tunnel
is my lucky direction
Tr. David Lanoue


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下駄はいて畠歩くや兄方詣
geta haite hatake aruku ya ehoo mairi

wearing nice clogs
in a vegetable patch --
this year's lucky direction
Tr. Chris Drake

This warmly humorous hokku is from 1824, when Issa was living in his hometown and hoping to meet the right woman to remarry after the death of his first wife and all their children. On the first day of the lunar new year (Jan. 31 in 1824) it was the custom to make a pilgrimage to the Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple where one's ancestors had worshiped or where they were buried. At the same time, it was also believed that the female god governing good fortune for the new year stayed in a different direction each year, based on the principles of Chinese Yin-Yang divination. In order to gain her favor, people had to walk in the direction in which this god of good luck was staying on the first day of the new year. In the country, however, there were fewer roads, and it was difficult to go to a shrine or temple where you normally worshiped while also walking in the lucky direction, so people often walked first to a location from which they could make their pilgrimage in the right direction. Even so, they often had to improvise new routes.

In the hokku, someone has dressed in nice wooden clogs and his or her best clothes in order to visit a shrine or temple early on New Year's morning. In order to walk in the new year's lucky direction, however, he or she must leave roads and paths behind and head right through a vegetable field (as opposed to a rice paddy), a muddy place you don't usually walk through with nice clogs. A few vegetables may already be planted at this time of year, and there could be a bit of snow on the ground, so walking with clogs is probably difficult and hardly elegant. In any case, it is an odd sight. If the person wearing clogs is Issa, he is probably smiling at the way he must look as he picks his way through the field.

Chris Drake


. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


. Geta, Wooden Sandals, Clogs, 下駄 .


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Plaque for Divination of the Auspicious Direction
PHOTO Gabi Greve

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way

During the New Year rituals of a household, one of the men in the household

toshiotoko, toshi otoko 年男（としおとこ）"man of the year"

waka otoko 若男（わかおとこ）"young man"
sechi otoko 節男（せちおとこ）"man for the seasonal festival)
yaku otoko 役男（やくおとこ）"man to perform duties"
manriki otoko 万力男（まんりきおとこ）"man with a thousand strength"
iwai taroo 祝太郎（いわいたろう）"Taro for Rituals"

. Toshiotoko 年男 "man of the year" .


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HAIKU


寝勝手に梅の咲けり我恵方
ne katte ni ume no saki keri waga ehô

while I slept
the plum tree bloomed!
lucky direction walk




吾庵や曲たなりに恵方棚
waga io ya magatta nari ni ehô tana

my hut--
it's a crooked path
to the New Year's shelf




足の向く村が我らが恵方かな
ashi no muku mura ga warera ga ehô kana

we follow our feet
to the village...
our New Year's walk

This haiku refers to the New Year's custom of visiting a shrine or temple located in a lucky direction. Ironically, Issa and his cohorts are heading for a village and (I assume) its tavern.


More EHOO haiku by
Issa
Tr. David Lanoue


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恵方とはこの道をただ進むかな
ehoo to wa kono michi o tada susumu kana

auspicious direction -
that means simply following
our own road
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Takahama Kyoshi

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大橋を恵方へ渡り詣りけり
oohashi o ehoo e watari mairi keri

crossing the Great Bridge
in the auspicious direction
for the New Year
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Hasegawa Kanajo

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Related words


Ehoosha 恵方社 Eho Shrine, Ehosha Shrine
Kyoto

This is the only shrine in Japan which rotates and changes its direction every year, so the visitors can bow toward the auspicious direction of the New Year.
The priests come to turn the upper stone on a special device to change the direction.

WASHOKU : Ehomaki Sushi Roll (ehoomaki)
kigo for early spring
Eaten on February 3 for Setsubun !


. Ichiyoo raifuku 一陽来福 .
"luck is coming back"

***** . Mi-Toshi no Kami 御年神（みとしのかみ） .
at 大和神社 Oyamato Jinja, Nara


***** . Owari shi Kannon 尾張四観音
The Four Kannon Temples of Owari Nagoya .


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Festivals and Ceremonies of Japan

. Legends about Toshitokujin .

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