F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-152
weird
Shirakino Ningyō-okuri (Effigy-Sending Rite)
白木野人形送りしらきのにんぎょうおくり
D A T E2026-01-19
A Koshōgatsu (Little New Year) exorcism rite transmitted in the Shirakino hamlet of Nishiwaga Town, Iwate, on January 19. Nishiwaga Town Designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Hamlet residents fashion a life-size straw effigy of a samurai — the 'Ningyō-sama' — load it with the year's pestilence and misfortune, and send it off to the hamlet boundary, expelling it beyond the village. A representative effigy-sending rite of the snow-country Japan-Sea side of Tōhoku, sustained by a very small community.
N O P H O T O
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01Nishiwaga Town Designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property
- 02A life-size samurai-shaped straw effigy known as 'Ningyō-sama'
- 03A Little New Year ritual sending evil to the hamlet boundary
- 04Representative example of a snow-country effigy-sending rite
- 05A rare folk rite sustained by a very small community
D E E P D I V E