F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-192
Takaiwa Shrine Naked Pilgrimage
高岩神社裸参りたかいわじんじゃはだかまいり
A midwinter naked pilgrimage held at Takaiwa Shrine, the tutelary shrine of the Ninoba district in Futatsui, Noshiro City, Akita, on the Sunday nearest the Little New Year of the old lunar calendar (lunar January 15th). Wearing only white loincloths with white tabi socks and straw sandals, the men first enter the Fujikoto River and pour buckets of icy water over their heads to purify themselves (mizugori), then, clutching their offering coins, climb in silence along the snowbound approach roughly four kilometers up to Takaiwa Shrine to receive a blessing. It is said that completing the pilgrimage three years running will make one's wish come true. On the same night, the 'Bantonya' is held, with snow lanterns lit from the approach up the mountainside, casting countless flames across the foot of the Shirakami mountains. As a midwinter purification rite, it fuses snow-country faith with bodily austerity.
H I G H L I G H T S
Highlights
- 01The 'mizugori' moment as the men stand in the sub-zero Fujikoto River and pour bucketfuls of icy water over their heads
- 02The midwinter ascent in which loincloth-clad men climb the snowbound approach in silence for about four kilometers
- 03The dreamlike 'Bantonya,' with countless snow lanterns lit from the approach up the mountainside on the same night
D E E P D I V E
Deep Dive
Local Perspective
Local Perspective
The fact that this rite — begun during the war, then discontinued — was revived by the local youth association in 1990 shows a community deliberately recovering and carrying forward its own memory and faith. Press reports describe young people gathering from within and beyond the prefecture to take on the 'austerity' in loincloths, and in an area marked by depopulation and aging, the event is sustained with the help of outside participants. By running it together with the Bantonya snow-lantern night, the community draws visitors and spectators and positions the rite as a winter tourism asset at the foot of the Shirakami mountains.