Niiname-sai
The Niiname-sai ( Japanese 新 嘗 祭 , "celebration of the new tasting", also called Shinjō-sai and Niiname-no-Matsuri) is an annual Shinto harvest ceremony held on November 23 , during which freshly harvested rice is sacrificed to to thank the kami for the successful year and to pray for a new fruitful year. Niiname-sai ceremonies take place all over Japan , the most important of which is carried out by the Tennō himself. November 23rd has been a public holiday since the end of World War II and is also celebrated as the "Day of Thanks for Work" (勤 労 感謝 の 日, Kinroukansha-no-hi).
Origin of the ceremony
The Niiname-sai is the name for the Shinto harvest festival in Japan and takes place annually on November 23rd. It is held in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo as well as in many shrines across the country. The Niiname-sai is already mentioned in the imperial chronicles of Nihonshoki日本 書 紀 (720), but its origins probably go back to the Yayoi period (300 BC-300 AD), when (Nassfeld) rice cultivation began first spread in Japan. Originally the ceremony took place on the day of the rabbit of the 11th month according to the lunar calendar, in the course of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in the Meiji period (1868-1912) it was set on November 23rd.
With the end of World War II, November 23rd was declared a " day of thanks for work " (勤 労 感謝 の 日, Kinroukansha-no-hi) to celebrate the new rights for workers. Since then, the Niiname-sai has only been celebrated as a "private function or rite" by the imperial family and various shrines. Nowadays, on November 23, various festivals on the topics of peace, human rights and the environment are organized.
Course of the ceremony
Originally, the sacrificial rice for the Niiname-sai of the imperial family was cultivated on fields in the vicinity of Kyoto which were determined by divination for this purpose and symbolized the empire and its provinces. Today this is done by the emperor himself in the facilities of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo .
During the ceremony on November 23, the emperor ritually sacrifices the 5 types of grain gokoku (五穀) from the "new harvest" shinkoku (新 穀) not to a single kami, but to the whole pantheon of Japanese deities, the so-called Tenjin Chigi (天神 地 祇 " Gods of heaven and earth ") to thank them for the successful year and to ensure their blessings for a productive harvest in the next year.
In the year of the accession to the throne of a new emperor, the first Niiname-sai after the accession to the throne is called Daijō-sai (大 嘗 祭, "celebration of the great tasting") and is carried out with much greater effort and with special rituals.
The fact that the offerings for Niiname-sai are prepared by a woman is seen by some as an indication of an originally matriarchal society in Japan and a special role of female shamans at this time.
Individual evidence
- ^ Picken, Stuart DB: Essentials of Shinto: An Analytical Guide to Principal Teachings . Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 1994, ISBN 0-313-26431-7 , pp. 81 .
- ^ Encyclopedia of Shinto - Home: State Rites: Niiname sai. Retrieved March 6, 2018 (Japanese).
- ↑ Embassy of Japan in Germany: Japan Information: Feature - Japanese Holidays in November. Retrieved March 5, 2018 .
- ↑ Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko ,: Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Through Time . Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 1993, ISBN 1-4008-2097-9 , pp. 48 .
- ^ Emperor Akihito Plants Rice at Imperial Palace in Annual Early Summer Event . In: Mainichi Daily News . May 23, 2017 ( mainichi.jp [accessed March 14, 2018]).
- ↑ Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko ,: Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Through Time . Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 1993, ISBN 1-4008-2097-9 , pp. 45-51 .
- ^ Hynes, William J., Doty, William G .: Mythical Trickster Figures: Contours, Contexts, and Criticisms . University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa 1993, ISBN 978-0-8173-8285-8 , pp. 152 f .