F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-227

Atsuki no Shinmei-sai (Atsuki Shinmei Fire Festival)

阿月の神明祭あつきのしんめいさい

A Little New Year (koshogatsu) fire festival handed down in the Atsuki district of Yanai City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and designated a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Its defining feature is the raising of towering sacred objects called "Shinmei"—reaching roughly 20 meters tall—on the beaches of the district, which is split into east and west halves. Built on a frame of bamboo and timber and adorned with colorful decorations and paper streamers (gohei), the giant Shinmei loom over the shore while purified participants in white robes circle them day and night performing the "Shinmei dance." After dark, both east and west Shinmei are set ablaze and pulled down in flames. People believe that eating mochi roasted in that fire will protect them from illness. The festival is said to have been handed down since 1644 (Shoho 1), praying for protection from misfortune and disease and for a good harvest, while also carrying the character of a rite of passage marking young men's graduation from the village youth association.