F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-233

Yahama Yama-no-Kami Matsuri (Mountain God Laughing Festival)

矢浜山の神祭りやはま やまのかみまつり

Held every February 7 in the Yahama district of Owase City, this small parishioners' rite rests on the belief that the mountain god is a jealous goddess. Long ago, the story goes, the mountain god and the sea god competed to gather the bounties of mountain and sea; just as they were drawing even, a scorpionfish (okoze) appeared and the mountain god lost. To console the grieving goddess, the villagers drew the ugly okoze from their robes, declared "this is not a fish," and burst into hearty laughter — "wa-ha-ha!" — praying for safety in mountain work and for a bountiful, peaceful year. One of the strangest customs surviving in Mie's far south, it also preserves an old layer of folk fertility belief: wooden models of farm tools and carved wooden phalluses are offered to pray for a good harvest. Performed at staggered times across several altars in the district — Nodayama, Kagari-do, Kamiji — it remains an unselfconscious, un-touristed village rite.