Yamaguchisai and Konomotosai

On May 2^nd, the first two major matsuri of the 63^rd Shikinen Sengū were held: the Yamaguchisai and the Konomotosai. Both of these matsuri are concerned with the timber that will be used in the rebuilding.

Before the Yamaguchisai, at 8 am, everyone who would participate in the matsuri paid their respects at Kōtaijingū, the Inner Sanctuary enshrining Amaterasu Ōmikami, and then paid distant reverence to Aramatsuri-no-miya, the highest ranking associated sanctuary, which enshrines Amaterasu Ōmikami’s Aramitama. They then went to a building near the sanctuaries called the Gojōden, for the Kyōzen-no-gi, which is a ceremonial meal.

Historically, the Shikinen Sengū was overseen by an official appointed by the court, and the Kyōzen-no-gi was a celebratory meal hosted by the priests of Jingū to welcome him. However, since the end of the war, Jingu has had to manage its own ceremonies, and the Shikinen Sengū is run by the Jingū Shikinen Zōeichō, which was set up within Jingū at the beginning of this year. This is headed by the Senior Chief Priest, who therefore takes on the role of the Tennō’s envoy at this meal, and is welcomed by the Junior Chief Priest on behalf of Jingū. While food is set out, the menu fixed by tradition, nobody eats it. Instead, sakë is poured three times for everyone. (I think they actually drink it. Apart from the children, about whom more later.) Thus, this is now a completely symbolic event: it is a welcoming feast at which no-one is actually welcomed and no food is actually consumed.

The group was then purified in front of the Imibiyaden, the “Hall of the Sacred Fire”, where food offerings are prepared. While there are, naturally, priests from Jingū involved in this matsuri, there are also representatives of the people who will work on the rebuilding, and the Monoimi, children who play a very important role. On this occasion they were all eight years old, a boy and girl for the Inner Sanctuary, and a girl for Toyo’ukë Daijingū, the Outer Sanctuary. They are the children of priests at Jingū. Historically, there seem to have been a lot of important formal roles for children in Shinto ritual, but they have almost all disappeared now — informal participation is still very common, however.

“Yamaguchi” means “entrance to the mountains”, and the Yamaguchisai for the Inner Sanctuary was held at a site near the base of the mountain behind the sanctuaries, Kamijiyama. Originally, this was where the materials were harvested, and the matsuri venerates “Yamaguchi-no-Ōkami”, the kami of the location. The priest announces the intention to fell trees, so that the kami is warned in advance.

The matsuri is performed outside, and this year it was raining, so a tent was set up. Coloured flags (of a sort), in blue, yellow, red, white, and black are set up at the centre of the area and each corner, one colour at each point, with yellow in the centre. The offerings to the kami include a living white chicken, in a bamboo cage, and a number of hen’s eggs. This is very unusual in Shinto, but the tradition goes back at least as far as our records do, which means the beginning of the ninth century at the latest. The chicken is raised by a group dedicated to this purpose, from a traditional breed that is recognised as a Natural Treasure. The chicken is still alive at the end of the ceremony. As part of the matsuri, the Monoimi uses a sacred spade to bury purification items at the site, and a sacred sickle to trim grass. The whole matsuri takes about three hours.

Soon after, at noon, the Yamaguchisai for the Outer Sanctuary took place. This happens on Takakurayama, to the east of one of the Betsugū of the Outer Sanctuary. It seems that different people serve at it — the article is clear that the two Monoimi are different people — and the rain this time was even heavier, but otherwise it is the same as the one for the Inner Sanctuary. The kami being venerated is probably a different Yamaguchi-no-Ōkami, however — the kami of this mountain’s entrance.

The Konomotosai is a secret matsuri, and is held at night. In this context, “secret” means that only the participants are allowed to be present. The fact that it happens is completely unsecret — the date is publicly announced by the Tennō, for a start. The content of the matsuri is also not secret. Much of it, including the initial purification and the sacred space, is very similar to the Yamaguchisai. However, this matsuri venerates “Konomoto-no-Ōkami”, “The Great Kami at the Base of the Tree”. The tree in question is the one that will be felled to create the Shin-no-Mihashira for the new sanctuaries. (The Shin-no-Mihashira is an extremely sacred pillar under the floor of the main sanctuaries. There are a lot of mysteries around it, in part because the matsuri concerning it are generally secret.) According to the article, the Monoimi uses a sacred spade to bury purification items, as for the Yamaguchisai, and then uses a sacred axe to fell the tree. It does look as though the tree is actually felled during the ceremony, because the article says that it is taken back to be stored at the sanctuaries. However, I have my doubts about whether the eight-year-old child does the whole job themselves.

With these two matsuri, the Shikinen Sengū is formally underway. If everything goes according to plan, it will be about eight and a half years until it finishes.