F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-129
Dazaifu Tenmangu Usokae & Onisube
太宰府天満宮 鷽替え・鬼すべ神事だざいふてんまんぐう うそかえ・おにすべしんじ
Paired New Year rites held on the night of January 7 each year at Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture. In the 'Usokae', worshippers in darkness chant 'Kaemasho, kaemasho' ('Let us exchange, let us exchange') and exchange small wooden bullfinches with strangers one after another, said to exchange the past year's lies (uso) for the sincerity of Tenjin. In the 'Onisube' that follows, demons confined in the Onisube Hall are smoked out with fire and smoke, and a bound demon is led seven and a half times around the hall's interior and three and a half times around its exterior before being subdued. A Dazaifu Municipally Designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01Dazaifu Municipally Designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property
- 02'Usokae' — exchanging wooden bullfinches with strangers in the dark
- 03'Onisube' — a fire-and-smoke rite that drives out demons
- 04The bound demon circumambulates the hall seven and a half times within and three and a half times without
- 05A New Year rite derived from devotion to the enshrined deity, Sugawara no Michizane
D E E P D I V E
Deep Dive
R E F E R E N C E