F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-255

Oiso no Sagicho (Sae-no-Kamisan Dosojin Fire Festival)

大磯の左義長（セエノカミサン）おおいそのさぎちょう（せえのかみさん）

Oiso no Sagicho is a Little New Year fire festival of the Dosojin (Sae-no-Kami, the boundary deity) cult handed down in Oiso, Kanagawa, locally called "Sae-no-Kamisan." On a Saturday night around January 14, nine huge conical "onbe" (called seeto or saito) rise on Kitahama Beach. Built around an onbe bamboo pole and stuffed with New Year decorations and first calligraphy of the year, then wrapped in straw to a height of several meters, the saito are lit all at once, and nine flames redden the night beach and the sea. Folk beliefs hold that eating dumplings toasted in the fire wards off colds, and that if your calligraphy paper rises high in the flames your handwriting will improve. From January 14 to 16, children seclude themselves in temporary huts, and a "Nanatoko-mairi" pilgrimage to seven Dosojin sites is made. It is designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.