F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-232

Kanbodaiji Shogatsudo Shushoe (Omochi-eshiki Great Rice-Cake Rite)

観菩提寺正月堂 修正会・大餅会式かんぼだいじ しょうがつどう しゅしょうえ おおもちえしき

Kanbodaiji, an ancient temple tucked into the hills of Shimagahara in Iga City, is popularly known as the Shogatsudo ("First-Month Hall"). Each year on February 11 its main hall hosts the Shushoe, a Buddhist folk rite praying for a bountiful harvest and the warding off of misfortune, designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Mie Prefecture in 1954. Said to have been founded in the Tempyo-shoho era (mid-8th century), it is performed before the famous Omizutori (Shunie) of Nara's Todaiji Nigatsudo, and locals claim the Shogatsudo as the very origin of the Shunie tradition. Several confraternities (ko), serving in rotation under the village's toya (head-household) system, carry offerings called "sekku-mori" — including demon-heads woven from palm fiber and five cylindrical great rice cakes of varying sizes — and press into the main hall to chants of "Eto!" Inside, they form a circle, sing counting songs, and close with three banzai cheers. A boisterous "great rice-cake rite" fused with the solemn liturgy of the Datsudan, it transmits an ancient layer of Nara Buddhism.