Summer Ebisu

The August 18^th issue of Jinja Shinpō included an article about a summer matsuri at Nishinomiya (“Western Sanctuary”) Jinja (西宮神社) in Nishinomiya City, Hyōgo Prefecture. (The jinja is named after the city. “Nishinomiya” was originally applied to a group of jinja around Hirota Jinja (廣田神社), or to Hirota Jinja itself depending on the source you read, because they were (and are) to the west of Kyoto. It seems that the name was formally applied to the area in which this jinja is sited, and that it took its name from that.)

Nishinomiya Jinja claims to be the main Ebisu (えびす on the jinja’s homepage — there are a lot of different kanji that get used for this kami’s name in different places) jinja in Japan, and while there is some dispute, I think most people would agree. It is most famous for its matsuri on January 10^th, which is known as Tōka Ebisu (十日えびす), which means “10^th of the month Ebisu”. This article was obviously not about that, but rather about another one that is held six months later (or earlier…), on July 10^th, known as “Natsu Ebisu”, “Summer Ebisu”. There are also associated events that happen a few days before or after, notably on July 7^th, Tanabata (七夕). One of these events is a “Yebisu Beer Festival”, which is not a standard feature of Shinto ritual — but the beer is named after the kami, and has a picture of him on the cans, so there is a strong connection. (“Yebisu” comes from an older transcription convention. The Japanese for “yen” is “en”, for the same reason.)

I am not going to describe everything that happens at the matsuri, but rather pick up a couple of points that struck me.

First, one of the events that is now standard is spreading the old jinja diaries out on the floor in one of the rooms, and letting people see them. This is also important for preserving the diaries, because it airs them out (a bit). The diaries record important events at the jinja, and go back to 1694 without any significant breaks. The priests still make these records today, and the volumes from 1694 to 1875 are Prefectural Cultural Properties.

The second point concerns the kami for this festival. It is Ebisu’s aramitama (荒魂), enshrined in Okiebisu Jinja (沖恵美酒神社). The main jinja enshrines his nigimitama (和魂). The nigimitama is the calm and gentle spirit of a kami, while the aramitama is the wild and energetic spirit. The idea that kami have these two aspects is ancient, and they are separately enshrined at a number of older jinja. However, in some cases it seems that the jinja enshrining the aramitama is relatively recent, in the last few centuries, so this is not a purely ancient phenomenon. On the other hand, I am aware of no contemporary Shinto practices that actively distinguish the aramitama and the nigimitama — which does not mean that they do not exist.

The slightly odd thing here is that the jinja is described in the article as a “massha” (末社). That normally means a subsidiary jinja enshrining a kami without a particularly close link to the kami of the main jinja. I am not entirely sure how “the aramitama of the main kami” could qualify for that. On the other hand, a different Ebisu jinja moved to the precincts could well be a massha, despite being “the same kami”, and if that jinja, over time, came to be thought of as enshrining the aramitama, then you could find yourself in this situation.

That is speculation, but there is something a little unusual going on here.