Religion in Japanese Daily Life by David C. Lewis

Author:David C. Lewis [Lewis, David C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781317194378
Google: IOI2DwAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-09-22T02:08:36+00:00

Prayers to the god of the mountain (Yama no kami reisai)

This rite is held each year on or about 9 January, the festival date (reisai) for the god of the Sonoyama mountain.24 As for the other rites, the ceremony is actually held on the nearest auspicious working day. The shrine dedicated to this deity is at least several centuries old and is located in a small fenced-in grove at the base of the Sonoyama hillside, opposite the West gate of the factory. A simple, unpainted wooden torii marks the entrance to the grove, in the centre of which, demarcated by sacred rope (shimenawa) and surrounded by another fence, is the tree in which the deity is said to reside. This is a female deity whose speciality is granting fertility to childless couples: however, being female, she is said to pay attention only to her male devotees and not to the requests of other women; therefore all the participants in this ritual are male.25

Before 9 a.m. on the morning of the ritual Ōishi-san and two other members of the general affairs department – the same ones who had cleaned up the Inari shrine for the safety prayers five days previously – come to the shrine. They set up a table just in front of the sacred tree’s protecting fence, facing towards the torii at the entrance, and on it place offering-stands containing tai fish, rice cakes, rice, sake, carrots, satsumas, giant radishes and cuttlefish.26 On a separate table to the right (as one looks from the torii) they lay out branches of sakaki, each with sacred white paper streamers attached, and put a chair next to this table in readiness for the Shintō priest. His gohei pole for the purification ritual is also placed in readiness in its separate stand on the table. Two other tables, each covered with white cloths, are set up to the right of the entranceway (before the torii), on one of which individual bags of satsumas (five in each bag) are arranged as parting gifts for each participant. The other table next to the entrance is used as a place for the guests to leave any coats or bags.

Meanwhile, Ōishi-san prepares a bonfire in the corner of the precincts to the left of the entrance. At the base of this in some years he places all the mamori (safety charms) and fuda (protective plaques) from the previous year which had been put in all the company cars and most factory buildings but in other years he takes these to the shrine where he goes for his personal New Year’s visit. Above the used charms he places logs of wood and then lights the bonfire: therefore the charms are burnt in a sacred place rather than being ‘defiled’ by being thrown out with the regular rubbish. In the cold January weather the bonfire also has the practical benefit of providing some warmth for the participants, who begin to arrive before 9.45 a.m. By then Ōishi-san and his

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