F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-234

Minomura Mushi-okuri (Insect-Sending Fire Procession)

蓑村の虫送りみのむらのむしおくり

Mushi-okuri ("sending off the insects") is an agrarian rite preserved in the hamlet of Minomura in Meiwa, Mie, in which fire and smoke are used to drive crop-eating pests beyond the village boundary and pray for a good harvest. Villagers of all ages — children to the elderly — carry torches roughly two meters long, made of bound straw with bamboo cores, set them ablaze, and walk in a long file along the paths between the rice paddies. Drums and gongs are beaten at the head of the procession and men sound conch-shell trumpets (horagai). The drum that symbolizes the rite bears a dedication dated Anei 3 (1774), and the event is said to have been handed down for more than 240 years. Once widespread across the surrounding area, it is now the only surviving insect-sending rite in Meiwa, and in 2014 it was designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of the town. The procession ends at Unari Shrine (Torigata Shrine), which stands on the site of an ancient sacred rice field (shintei) connected to the Grand Shrine of Ise.