なまはげ柴灯まつり Namahage-sedo-matsuri Namahage Sedo Festival
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Namahage Sedo Festival is held at Shinzan Shrine in Oga City, Akita Pref. in February every year. The festival is carried out as a tourist event that combines the Sedo Festival, which is the ceremony of the shrine, and Namahage, which is a folk festival. At Sedo Festival, a big rice cake is toasted on the Sedo fire in the precinct and dedicated to the god of Mt. Shinzan in the hope of rich harvest and safe navigation. At the same time, Shinto rites of Yudate Shinji (the offering of boiling water ) called Yuno-mai (boiling water dance) and Chinkama-sai festival (a ceremony of pouring the boiling water) are carried out to calm the rough sea. After that a group of Namahage, who were inspired souls at the shrine returns to the mountain, and then come down to the villages looking for evil children. There Namahage rampage about and show gallant dancing to the rhythms of Namahage-daiko drums and returns to the mountain again to complete the ritual rites. The ogres dancing wildly together with burning fire and fallen snow in the winter mountain make the fantastic scene.
- address
- oga, Akita Prefecture, 010-0500
- name
- Namahage Sedo Festival