Lauren, Tina, Steve and I attended the "Yudate" and "Chinowa Kuguri" services at Yashiro-Ohtoshi Shrine. It is a ceremony that promotes good health and happiness for the next 6 months (to charge up again there is another ceremony in December!).
First we took part in the "Chinowa" (passing through the ring of thatch grass). You do this by standing in front of the ring, walk through it and turn left going back to the start. Then you walk through it again and turn right going back to the start. Last of all you walk straight through to the shrine to pray. People in the shrine would hold the long rope, hit the bell with it and then pray to the gods ( didn't do this part). After wards we were given a small ring of thatch grass to take home and give us god health.
We were encouraged to join in the games which included scooping fish into a bowl with a paper scoop (scoop as many as you can before your scoop disintegrates) and hook a balloon. The hooks were attached to a thin string of paper and we had to hook the loop attached to a balloon before the string broke. Tina caught hers first and was a little disappointed when she pulled it up and it was 80% deflated! It was a cute game.
Next was the "Yudate" service. A man in a purple kimono, a black sequined hat and very big, black shiny shoes read out the service. He did it in almost a song-like style (no not J-Pop style!). After this everyone shuffled forwards. The man held two bunches of bamboo grass which had been boiling away in a pot and brought them over to everyone. He then swung them from side to side and the crowd were sprinkled in droplets of a Japanese version of 'holy water'.
Last of all was the "Chinowa Kuguri" service. Everyone played follow the leader and, lead by the guy in purple, the whole crowd did the figure 8 formation through the ring. Many people were handed a branch of the bamboo grass for a keep-sake and to display at home. We looked pretty funny riding home with baskets full of grass!
First we took part in the "Chinowa" (passing through the ring of thatch grass). You do this by standing in front of the ring, walk through it and turn left going back to the start. Then you walk through it again and turn right going back to the start. Last of all you walk straight through to the shrine to pray. People in the shrine would hold the long rope, hit the bell with it and then pray to the gods ( didn't do this part). After wards we were given a small ring of thatch grass to take home and give us god health.
We were encouraged to join in the games which included scooping fish into a bowl with a paper scoop (scoop as many as you can before your scoop disintegrates) and hook a balloon. The hooks were attached to a thin string of paper and we had to hook the loop attached to a balloon before the string broke. Tina caught hers first and was a little disappointed when she pulled it up and it was 80% deflated! It was a cute game.
Next was the "Yudate" service. A man in a purple kimono, a black sequined hat and very big, black shiny shoes read out the service. He did it in almost a song-like style (no not J-Pop style!). After this everyone shuffled forwards. The man held two bunches of bamboo grass which had been boiling away in a pot and brought them over to everyone. He then swung them from side to side and the crowd were sprinkled in droplets of a Japanese version of 'holy water'. 
Last of all was the "Chinowa Kuguri" service. Everyone played follow the leader and, lead by the guy in purple, the whole crowd did the figure 8 formation through the ring. Many people were handed a branch of the bamboo grass for a keep-sake and to display at home. We looked pretty funny riding home with baskets full of grass!
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