Kui Ino Shrine Annual Festival & Ancient Otou Ritual

About this event

At Kui Ino Shrine in Kui-cho, Mihara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, the Annual Festival and Ancient Otou Ritual are held every year on October 18. This festival is a sacred rite conducted according to ancient traditions of offering sacred sake and is counted among the three major festivals of Kui Ino Shrine. The Otou is a historic ritual whose existence is confirmed even in literature from 400 years ago; it is a traditional ceremony where a sea bream is sliced into sashimi using only kitchen knives without touching it with hands, followed by a communal feast. In the morning, a ceremony is held at the main shrine (Honden), and from the afternoon, the 'Miko no Tou' is performed at the Kagura Hall, followed by the 'Higashiza' (former Ryoke partition seat) and 'Nishiza' (former Jito partition seat) rituals within the shrine grounds. At the East and West seats, the persons on duty offer sweet sake and large sea bream, and finally, under the name of 'Ba no Uo' (fish of the place), the large sea bream is prepared with unique knife techniques, leading to the Naorai feast. This traditional ritual is conducted in a form close to the descriptions in the 1598 (Keicho 3) document 'Inari Otou no Oboe.' As a precious event that faithfully conveys ancient practices, it was selected in December 1981 (Showa 56) as an 'Intangible Folk Cultural Property for which measures such as recording should be taken.' The festival offers a wealth of highlights, including the ritual at the main shrine, the Miko no Tou at the Kagura Hall, and the scenes at the East and West seats where the large sea bream is carried with distinctive movements and prepared solely with knife work in the shrine grounds.

Venue

Kui Ino Shrine

1-1 Kuicho Egi Miyanomoto, Mihara, Hiroshima 722-1304