Special Ritual of Kikuma-no Jinja

Festival highlights

A highlight is the distinctive shinji in which a small tub containing brown rice is treated as sacred.

The mikoshi leaves the toya’s home and heads to the otabisho, where the shinshoku places the brown rice inside the mikoshi.

This is followed by the offering of food and a shishimai performance; the sequence of events, ending with the mikoshi’s return to the main shrine, reveals the form of an old festival.

The old autumn festival of Nakamura, linked by a brown-rice shintai and a mikoshi

What to expect

The Shiokawa shinji takes place 7 days before the festival. At the toya’s home, gohei are cut, rice cakes are made, and amazake is carried to the shrine.

At the shrine, the shinshoku, the toya’s head, and others purify themselves with spring water in front of the shrine and wash the ritual implements.

On the previous day, a shrine pavilion is set up at the toya’s home to welcome the mikoshi. On the day itself, the mikoshi proceeds from the toya’s home to the otabisho, then returns to the main shrine after the offering of food and a shishimai performance.

Location and access

Venue and address

Kikuma-no Jinja, 137 Nakamura-cho, Zentsuji City (south of the Tadotsu–Zentsuji Line, west of Wakamiya Jinja)

Address 137 Nakamura-cho, Zentsuji City, Kagawa Prefecture

Dates and season

Season

October 7–9

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Origins and History of Special Ritual of Kikuma-no Jinja

Kikuma-no Jinja bears a name meaning “Kumano of Kii” and is said to have originally been Kumano Gongen.

It was renamed Kikuma-no during the Meiji-era separation of Buddhism and Shinto, and was also known as Jūnisha Gongen or Nagi-no-Miya.

It is said that bunrei were sent from Kikuma-no Jinja in Nakamura to Kikuma-no Jinja in Kawaradani, Ikuno-no-hara, and Nishioka. The Special Ritual is passed down by a tradition-preservation group that upholds old customs.

Official information

Zentsuji City Digital Museum: Kikuma-no Jinja

Special Ritual of Kikuma-no Jinja at a Glance

The Special Ritual of Kikuma-no Jinja is a Kagawa Prefecture-designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property passed down at Kikuma-no Jinja in Nakamura-cho, Zentsuji City.

The sequence includes the Shiokawa shinji 7 days beforehand, the welcoming of the mikoshi on the previous day, the offering of brown rice and shishimai at the otabisho on the day itself, and the mikoshi’s return to the main shrine.

The shrine’s history, rooted in Kumano Gongen, and its brown-rice shintai, reminiscent of agricultural rites, convey the character of the region’s old festival traditions.