F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-220

Domyoji Tenmangu Usokae Festival (Bullfinch Exchange Rite of the First Tenjin)

道明寺天満宮うそかえ祭（初天神うそかえ神事）どうみょうじてんまんぐううそかえさい

Held each year on January 25, the day of the First Tenjin, at Domyoji Tenmangu in Fujiidera, Osaka—a shrine dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane—this is a rite for warding off misfortune by 'substitution.' Hand-carved wooden "uso" birds (bullfinches), crafted by the priests over a full year, are distributed, and worshippers hold their bagged birds and exchange them with one another again and again while chanting "kaemasho, kaemasho" (let us exchange). At a drum signal they stop and open the bags: those whose carvings are marked "gold" or "silver" can trade them for 18-karat gold or pure-silver amulets, or for larger carved bullfinches. The rite draws on a pun in which the previous year's misfortunes and "lies" (uso) are 'exchanged' for good fortune, together with a legend about bullfinches connected to Michizane. Performed twice, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., it blends the thrill of a lottery with the solemnity of a Shinto rite in a distinctive participatory event unique to Tenmangu shrines.