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Namahage
In Akita Prefecture, Namahage is a standard way of disciplining children. Namahage is a traditional New Year folk event held in Oga City, Akita Prefecture (around the Oga Peninsula). (Currently, it is held on New Year’s Eve.) It is a unique custom in which the gods called Namahage, wearing a demon mask and a straw costume, visits homes to ward off evil spirits and warn lazy people. It is designated as an important intangible folk cultural asset of the country. In 2018, it was registered as a UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage as a constituent asset of “Raiho-shin: ritual visits of deities in masks and costumes”. What is Namahage? Raiho-shin (visiting […]
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Amahage
Amahage comes up to the house making strange noises, chasing and holding the children, and the adults are overjoyed by the crying children caught by Amahage. “Amahage” is a traditional New Year event that transmitted to the three villages located in the foot of Mt. Chokai, Takinoura, Mega, Torizaki in Yuza Town, Yamagata Prefecture. It is very similar to the “Namahage,” which transmitted to the Oga Peninsula in Akita Prefecture. Young men in a village, wearing a face mask of a demon and an old man and dress in Kendan, which is a kind of Mino, a costume made up of many layers of straws. They hit the drums, give […]
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Mizukaburi of Yonekawa
The gods dressed like the bagworm with straw wrapped around his body pours buckets of water over houses! In the Yonekawa district of Tome City, Miyagi Prefecture, Hibuse (fire-fighting) event called “Mizukaburi” is held every year on Hatsuuma* day. Hibuse is a custom to ward off fire by using the spiritual power of gods and Buddha to prevent fires, in Japan, there is a legend from ancient times that if it does not rain on Hatsuuma day, there will be many fires. In the villages of the Yonekawa district, the men wearing straw clothes called “Oshime” and straw sandals, smear charcoal on their faces and sprinkle water on the roofs […]