Nagoshi-no-Harai
Go through the Chinowa Wreath and Purify Yourself
According to the lunar calendar, mid-summer comes at the end of June. Shinto, the ancient indigenous religion of Japan, celebrates this midsummer zenith with a simple ritual of universal symbolic meaning called Nagoshi-no-Harai. Dating back at least 1200 years to the Nara Period (710-794), the Nagoshi-no-Harai is a purification ceremony performed every year on June 30th at most medium and large-sized shrines throughout Kyoto. On this day when the summer sun shines in its splendor, exposing all things to its cleansing light, people atone for their sins of the first half of the year and pray for their health for the second half.
This is brought about by ritually paying respects to the deity of the shrine, often a local god or woodland spirit of some specific deity. Following this respectful behavior, the believer proceeds to walk through a chinowa, or huge wreath. Woven from a kind of Japanese reed, the chinowa is an impressive circle. It bears all the mythological import of Mother Earth – the bounty of her summer fertility, the inevitable and unstoppable process of natural growth. The ritual wand of Shinto purification, an artfully and simply cut series of white paper strips, is either suspended from the chinowa or borne in the hand of the believer as they pass through the sacred circle.
What distinguishes the sacred circle ritual of the Nagoshi-no-Harai is its simplicity and lack of fuss. The inherent symbolism of earth, grain, sun, and circle, speaks eloquently for itself. The delightful ambiguity of whether a displeased spirit which needs to be appeased is within or without, revealing that this ritual is rooted in ancient mystery, and expresses some ancient wisdom.
Recommended shrines to experience the Nagoshi-no Harai
Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine: A chinowa that visitors can go through will be set up in the precinct from June 1 to 29 (7:00-16:00); The ceremony takes place from 16:00 on the 30th (no going through the chinowa until 16:00 on this day); A giant chinowa (5 meters tall, the largest in Kyoto) will be set up at the shrine gate from the 25th to the 30th; the special small chinowa amulet is also available from June 1; Kyoto City Bus #50, get off at Kitano Tenmangu-mae.
Kifune Shrine (June 25-30): Chinowa is set up from the 25th and the ceremony takes place on the 30th from 15:00; Eizan Railways to Kibuneguchi Sta.
Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine (June 30): The ceremony starts from 15:00; Keihan Fushimi Inari Sta. or JR Inari Sta.
Heian Shrine (June 30): The ceremony starts from 16:00; Kyoto City Bus #5, get off at Kyoto Kaikan Bijutsukanmae.