| Location |
Haguro Town, Dewa Sanzan Jinja (shrine) |
| Date |
December 31 to January 1 |
| Access |
50 min. by bus from Tsuruoka Station to top of (mt) Haguro-san |
| Other Information |
The most important festival of the Dewa Sanzan Shrine, the Shoreisai is also known as the "year's eve festival," and is a solemn sacred ceremony. After prayers are said over two giant straw torches representing "tsutsugamushi" (chigger) and made from 1,333 straw bundles, the ropes used to pull the torches are cut. The already waiting crowd compete in the scramble to capture a piece of the cut rope and take it back to their homes to secure safety from disaster in the next year. The ceremony of rope cutting and presentation to the crowd is carried out in the traditional fashion, and is truly magnificent. This festival coincides with the "winter peak" ritual of Mt. Haguro ascetics. |
| Inquiries to |
| Dewa Sanzan Jinja (shrine) |
TEL | 0235(62)2355 |
|
Last Update May 27, 2004
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