Event - Oyama Afuri Shrine

1月

元旦: Saitansai
(New Year Festival),Hoheisai
(Offerings Ceremony); The festival celebrates the New Year and prays for people's happiness, prosperity, peace, and a bountiful harvest. In addition to the Hoheisai by local Ujiko (Shrine Parishner), supplementary rice cakes will be distributed.
1月3日: Genshisai(Festival of Origins)
1月7日: Tsutsugayusai
(Pipe rice porridge festival),Hikimesai; This ritual involves scooping rice gruel into a bamboo tube and counting the number of rice gruel to predict the year's crop yields and weather conditions. The Hikimesai is held at midnight and has been passed down as a ritual to purge evil spirits from heaven and earth.

2月3日: Setsubunsai(Seasonal division); At the Setsubunsai of Afuri Shrine, a plank is set up in front of the Shimosa worship hall for the "Eho-maki”. During the ceremony, "Yumiboko Jinji", "Uchimame", and "Kinpeihaitai" are also performed.
2月中旬: Kigensetsu(Empire Day)

4月3日: Emperor Jinmu Festival,
Daishin Inari Festival
4月5日: Beginning of
the Shunki Taisai(Spring Festival); From April 5 to 20, it is a spring festival (spring opening period) called "Haruyama" (Spring Mountain). Haruyama was initiated during the Meiji period (1868-1912) due to the increase in the number of worshippers.
4月14日: Raizan Shrine Festival; This is an annual festival held at the Raizan Shrine, which enshrines the deity Ooikazuchi no Kami, who is also the deity of the Afuri Shrine, in the middle of Mt. Raizan.
4月20日: Spring Festival Collection
4月25日: Soreisha Shrine Festival

5月中旬〜下旬: Sake Festival(Prayer for brewing safety)※Brewers; We pray to the deity for the safety of brewing and the prosperity and development of the alcoholic beverage industry. At the festival, sake breweries from around the country offer their best sake, and a sake-tasting party is held by members of the Oyama Rishu Ko (sake brewers' association) and others in the industry.
5月中旬〜下旬: Sake Festival; With the aim of bringing people into contact with traditional Japanese sake brewing culture, we hold sake-tasting events open to the general public and sake tasting events from all over Japan.

6月1日: Sengen Shrine Festival; This festival is held at the Sengen Shrine, which enshrines Konohanasakuya-hime, the deity of Mt. Fuji, and her sister deity Iwanaga-hime.
6月上旬: Ondaue-matsuri(Rice planting ritual)
6月8日: Gonda Festival; A memorial service is held on June 8, the anniversary of the death of Naosuke Gonda, who is said to be the "father of Oyama modern times," and successive shrine priests at the Soreisha Shrine.
6月30日: Natsukoshi Oharae and Ekijinsai Festival; This ritual is held to purify the sins and defilements of the past six months. The general public is welcome to attend, and during the ritual, doll exorcism to purify oneself of sins and impurities, and the ritual of going through a cogon grass ring are performed.

7月27日: Regularly held festival/
Beginning of Summer Festival; It is commonly known as "Natsuyama” (Summer Mountain). When the "Ohana-ko" open the gate to the top of the mountain, people dressed in white follow them to the summit.

8月17日: Summer Festival Collection
8月18日: Niju Shrine Festival; The Nijusha Shrine, which enshrines the Takaokami no Kami, the deity of the Afuri Shrine, will be the site of the annual festival. Since ancient times, the deity has been worshipped as the god of rainpraying and rainstopping.
8月27日〜29日: Annual autumn festival; It is a festival dedicated to the Ujiko of the six towns in Mt. Oyama. The welcoming ceremony is held on the 27th, the main ceremony on the 28th, and the sending off ceremony on the 29th. The Yamato-mai and Miko dances are performed at the festival. During the Welcoming and Sending off ceremony, Afuri-okami makes a procession through the town of Yamauchi.

9月20日: Oiwake Shrine Festival; This is an annual festival held at the Oiwake Shrine (Yagokoro Omoikane Shrine) located at the junction of the Otokozaka and Onnazaka sections of the approach to the shrine. Oiwake-sha is a shrine where many shrines that were once enshrined on Otokozaka are enshrined together.
9月23日: Shuki koreisai(the Autumn Commemoration for the Imperial Spirits); We thank the spirits of our ancestors and enshrine them. Shuki koreisai is held annually on the vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox.
9月下旬: Nukihosai(Rice-harvesting ceremony)

10月上旬: Oyama Fire Takigi Noh Festival; The Oyama Noh play is said to have originated in the Genroku era, some 300 years ago, and is performed by the Kanze school Soke and the Okura school Kyogen Yamamoto Soke. Kyogen and shimai dances are also performed by the Oyama Kyogenza and Shinyokai.

11月23日: Niinamesai(Harvest Festival); It is a festival to dedicate the harvested new grains to the gods, to express gratitude for the year's harvest, and to pray for a bountiful harvest in the following year.

12月5日: Shinkokukanshasai(Festival for the harvest of the year)
12月13日: Susuharai
12月28日: Shiwasu Susuharai and Chinkasai(fire-extinguishing festival); It is held six months after the Natsukoshi Oharai. It is a Shinto ritual to purify the body and soul of all sins committed unknowingly during the six-month period, and to welcome the New Year in purity.
12月31日: Joyasai(New Year's Eve festival)