F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-125
weird
Hokkoji no Gohan-shiki (Forced-Eating Rite)
発光路の強飯式ほっこうじのごうはんしき
D A T E2026-01-03
An early-year rite held on January 3 in the Hokkoji area of Kamikasuo, Kanuma City, Tochigi Prefecture. Performers in yamabushi (mountain ascetic) attire harangue a 'chodai-nin' (receiver) dressed in formal montsuki-kamishimo, demanding that he eat a heaped pile of three sho of rice and drink an enormous cup of sake 'down to the last grain'. A solemn and comic rite that preserves traces of Nikko Shugendo. Designated as a Nationally Designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in December 1996.
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01Nationally Designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property (designated 1996)
- 02Yamabushi figures demanding that a chodai-nin consume vast quantities of food and sake
- 03The visual impact of '3 sho of rice' as a non-ordinary symbolic offering
- 04Ritual structure preserving traces of Shugendo
- 05Serving as chodai-nin is treated as an honor for the district
D E E P D I V E