F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-151
weird
Takahashi Mushi-okuri (Insect-Sending Rite)
高橋の虫送りたかはしのむしおくり
D A T E2026-07-19
A pest-sending rite of the Aizu basin transmitted in the Takahashi area of Aizumisato Town, Fukushima. Aizumisato Town Designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Two insect-cages — gendered as 'female cage' (mekago) and 'male cage' (okago) — confine the year's pests; residents carry them through the hamlet and finally send them off down the Miyagawa River. After a lapse in transmission, the rite was reconstituted in 2024 by local volunteers and is studied as a rare case fusing rice-pest exorcism with ancestral worship.
N O P H O T O
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01Aizumisato Town Designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property
- 02Two gendered insect-cages — mekago (female) and okago (male)
- 03Pest exorcism followed by sending the cages down the Miyagawa River
- 04Rare example fusing rice-pest exorcism and ancestral rites
- 05Transmission organization reconstituted by local volunteers in 2024
D E E P D I V E