Okariya in Shinju, Shimoichi Town

The Okariya in Shinju, Shimoichi Town, is an autumn festival passed down around a temporary shrine built to welcome a divided spirit of the ujigami.

About Okariya in Shinju, Shimoichi Town

The Okariya in Shinju, Shimoichi Town, is a temporary shrine erected ahead of the autumn festival at Shinju Hachiman Shrine to welcome a divided spirit of the ujigami.

The Okariya is a yorishiro for the kami and is set up in the head of the household’s garden.

Behind this is the basic idea of a temporary shrine: even a temporary building has a roof.

In Shinju, the Okariya event has been passed down as both preparation for the autumn festival and a place to enshrine the divine spirit.

Festival highlights

Records from 2015 describe the children’s waving as a distinctive feature of the festival.

The children sit formally facing the shrine building and take turns waving gohei from the seats on either side.

One set consisted of making a circle with a clockwise, counterclockwise, then clockwise motion; they performed 3 sets before tossing the gohei outward from the front.

After the gohei waving, a Toya handover was also held, transferring duties from the current head of the household to the next one.

Shinju’s autumn festival: a temporary shrine for welcoming a divided spirit of the kami and children waving gohei

What to expect

Records from 2015 state that early on the morning of the Hongu Festival, the head of the household removed the inhabited by the divine spirit from the Okariya, carried it in procession to the shrine, and placed it in the .

Afterward, the Hongu Festival ceremony was held under the direction of a , followed by the children’s gohei waving.

Finally, the Toya handover took place in the , transferring duties from the current head of the household to the next one.

Location and access

Venue and address: Shinju Hachiman Shrine (Shinju, Shimoichi Town)

Event venue 奈良県下市町新住八幡神社

This map uses the venue name. Check the official guide for the event area and entrances.

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Dates and season

Season: Before the autumn festival

Accommodation and hotels PR

Prices and availability are current at the time of retrieval. For multi-night stays, only the first night’s price is shown. Confirm the final price and directions to the venue with the booking provider. Select your dates again when using the area search link. Search area: within 3 km of Central Nara Prefecture / Shimoichi Town (the search is not centered on the festival venue)

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Origins and History of Okariya in Shinju, Shimoichi Town

The Okariya in Shinju is an event preserving old folk beliefs, in which the spirit of the ujigami is enshrined in the head of the household’s garden until the autumn festival.

Records from 2015 describe an autumn festival centered on the Okariya event, including the children’s gohei waving and the handover of duties by the head of the household.

The event is designated an intangible folk cultural property of Nara Prefecture under the name “Okariya in Shinju, Shimoichi Town.”

Okariya in Shinju, Shimoichi Town at a Glance

The Okariya in Shinju, Shimoichi Town, is an event in which a temporary shrine is built to welcome a divided spirit of the kami ahead of the autumn festival.

Records from 2015 confirm a sequence in which the divine spirit was moved from the Okariya to the shrine, followed by the Hongu Festival, the children’s gohei waving, and the Toya handover.

It is designated a prefectural intangible folk cultural property for preserving old folk beliefs.

Sources and references