The Roving Ronin Report

Setsubun at Nagata Shrine in Kobe. Setsubun is a spring exorcism ritual on February 3rd which used to be on the old Chinese New Year's Eve. Bad luck in the form of devils (oni) are driven away with a handful of tossed beans. At Nagata Shrine though the oni are actually the good guys and they drive away evil with fire and sword. The men who are to perform the ceremony prepare themselves with fasting and purification rituals such as misogi. Misogi is plunging into cold water to cleanse one's self body and soul. Tsuina Shiki or Oniyari is the exorcism ritual to drive away evil and disaster. Nagata Shrine is unique in that oni perform the ritual. This particular ritual is believed to be over 500 years old. These two particular oni are known for their healing properties. They will touch their temples then lay their hands on a person to heal them and protect them. Sickness is part of the evil that oni drive away.  In olden days sicknesses was just a...

On September 18th in Kamakura at the little Goryo Shrine a small but unique festival is held where the participants wear masks which are over 200 years old. The festival is known as Menkake Gyoretsu or Masked Procession. The festival is of uncertain origins but what is certain is that the shrine itself goes back to the late 11th Century. The enshrined kami is that of a famous warrior of the early samurai era - Kamakura Kagemasa popularly known as Gongoro. In fact the locals usually refer to Goryo Shrine as Gongoro Shrine.  Gongoro was born in Kamakura hence his name and at a young age went to Tohoku to fight for his patron clan, the Minamoto. In one battle Gongoro was struck in the eye with an arrow and he supposedly killed the enemy who sent the offending arrow. Later, a comrade in trying to remove the arrow place a foot upon Gongoro's head which nearly got the fellow killed when Gongoro tried to stab him. Gongoro felt placing a foot upon a samurai's head was a grievous ...