Fushimi Inari Taisha holds a festival in November, burning rice straw in gratitude of a plentiful harvest. The straw symbolizes a meaningful connection as the deity of rice is believed to dwell within rice grains, and it is used in prayers for offspring and in New Year's decorations. Rice straw is also used in everyday items, and an artisan weaves it into modern ornaments, redefining straw craftwork. Discover the multifaceted beauty of prayer infused into rice straw throughout the centuries.
Flames reach to the skies after the fall harvest.
Hitaki-sai is held at Fushimi Inari Taisha in the south of the city.
Rice straw is burned in gratitude to the shrine's deity for an abundant harvest.
Rice, the Japanese staple food.
In ancient times, the straw, that remained after the rice was husked, was thought to hold mystical powers and became an object of prayer.
The deity resides in the rice straw
after the harvest.
The spiritual power of fire burns it
as a send-off for the deity.
Rice straw is used as an intermediary between humans and the deities.
It was also used as a raw material in everyday items, with weaving techniques advancing over the centuries.
One artist was captivated by the folkcraft and saw new potential for straw in a modern context.
People way back were
surrounded by straw craftwork.
The use of straw has a long history,
and how we use it in modern life is important.
Core Kyoto reveals the role rice straw plays in residents' secular and spiritual lives.
An old custom recognizes the form of the deity within rice straw.
Let's celebrate the boar piglet's rice cakes.
One or two are not enough.
Kameoka, which lies to the west of Kyoto, has long prospered through rice cultivation.
November, and the harvest is done.
Even today, children of Hatano call on the some 20 households in the village in a ritual to bring good fortune.
Please pound for the deities of fortune
to come.
Let's celebrate the boar piglet's rice cakes.
One or two are not enough.
Let's pile them up and celebrate.
The custom originates in the belief that evil invaded after the deities departed from the harvested fields.
So, the straw in which the deities resided was used to purify the fields.
Hence, the straw clubs.
Each head of household offers the group a gratuity.
Come, come deities of fortune.
Come, another. Come, another.
For extra luck.
In return, the children entreat the deities to bring even more fortune.
I'm delighted the kids
come around like this.
Come, come deities of fortune.
Come, another. Come, another.
For extra luck.
Fushimi Inari Taisha, which is famous for its tunnel of vermillion torii gates, is the chief shrine for the 30,000 Inari Shinto shrines across Japan
and the origin of the belief in the deity of rice harvests.
For the Japanese, rice is a staple
that is essential for life.
Rice is the source of life.
The deity Inari, who brings bountiful rice harvests,
has been worshipped far and wide since ancient times.
Mt. Inari rises up behind the shrine.
The deity Inari is believed to reside here.
In ancient times, people relied on rice cultivation.
They believed that in the spring the deities would descend onto the fields at planting time to protect the crops.
And, in the fall after the harvest, the deities would return to the mountain.
Rice is cultivated at the sacred fields within Fushimi Inari Taisha precincts, and rituals dedicated to the deity are held throughout the year.
Nukiho-sai is held on October 25th when the crop has ripened.
After the ritual at the main shrine, parishioners harvest the field while shrine maidens perform a dance imitating their movements.
The harvested rice is used in various ritual offerings to Inari during the coming year.
The discarded straw is burned at a ritual held in November.
The deity was welcomed before planting and it resided in the crop to help it grow.
During the Hitaki-sai, the straw is burned to send the deity back to the mountain.
During November, Hitaki-sai rituals are held at about 20 locations on Mt. Inari.
The main ritual is held on November 8th.
Straw is burned at the main shrine, followed by another ritual held in the back of the precinct.
The three fenced fire beds are lit and smoke billows out.
As the straw burns, prayer sticks are thrown into the flames.
The sticks received from worshippers across Japan bear prayers for good health, household safety, and other wishes.
The rice straw burns along with the more than 100,000 sticks, and the deity carries the supplications back to Mt. Inari.
Prayer for health,
especially my mother's.
Gratitude for a comfortable life.
I feel refreshed.
Round baskets made with woven rice straw have been used for centuries to carry offerings to the deities.
Shimogamo Jinja holds a cleansing ritual in March to ward off evil.
Dolls bearing worshippers' misfortunes are placed in the baskets and floated downstream in prayer for good health.
Since ancient times, people believed that rice straw held the power to act as their intermediary with the deities,
and it became a symbol of prayer.
Therefore, they would carry straw with them for peace of mind.
Wara Tenjingu, located in the north of the city, attracts many pregnant worshippers to receive amulets that contain rice straw, a blessing for safe childbirth.
Rice is a symbol of the perpetuation of
the family line, so its straw is treasured.
Only the expecting mother can look inside the amulet.
If the rice straw has a node, the child will be a boy.
If not, a girl.
- Due the end of next month.
- The straw was wrong.
The straw was right with this one.
I felt protected.
The custom is to visit three times: when you find out you are expecting, in the month before you are due, then after your baby has safely come into the world.
We came when our eldest daughter
was born and have been every time since.
One artist applies modern sensibilities to traditional straw craftwork...
Fujii Momoko.
You adjust it like this.
It's a fun item, but making too many
could give me wrist issues.
I want to dispel everyone's image
of straw as something old-fashioned.
I want them to see, touch
and enjoy a beauty - that will make them wonder
if it really is straw.
When working with dried straw, people would beat it to make it supple for weaving.
It was easily obtainable so they developed numerous techniques to make everyday items from sturdy straw.
This is a raincoat. Straw layers were
added on the back, to repel the rain.
The daily items they made were of varied shape and size.
Within them, Fujii found something refreshing and a beauty that is relevant to the modern age.
She makes accessories using traditional techniques to display this beauty.
Take, for example, this earring.
Fujii applies an elliptic weaving technique once used for footwear to weave the leaves in the earrings.
Her straw accessories seem novel to a new generation who have few opportunities to handle straw.
The creativity is outstanding,
and it has a particular cuteness to it.
She makes accessories like I've
never seen before. I was surprised.
I didn't think they were peculiar, but rather
made with great skill. It's amazing.
Fujii was born and raised in Hanase, a town beyond the mountains, in the very north of the city.
During the winter when farmers were idle, everyone kept busy with straw craft.
Over a decade ago, Fujii began visiting one of the elder women she grew up with to learn the handicraft's history and techniques.
I was stunned. To think she was
making this sort of thing.
My own grandkids
won't even touch straw.
She best knows what it was like back then
and actually used these things.
We would all gather
in the work shed and - beat the straw, weaving it into ropes,
making sandals and other things we needed.
Fujii, who still lives in Hanase, cultivates and harvests rice neary.
In modern farming, most of the rice straw is crushed during the harvest to be used as fertilizer.
So, Fujii grows a variety that is thicker and taller than normal rice plants for her own use.
It's hard to get beautiful,
quality straw, like this.
The only way to obtain it
was to grow it from scratch, myself.
After drying and husking the rice, Fujii begins the sorting process by removing the outer layers from the base of the straw.
She purchased old farm machinery to help her.
What the machine cannot remove, Fujii removes by hand.
It's tough.
Now, Fujii has the rice straw she needs for her creations.
It doesn't look like straw.
It glows and is pretty.
She cuts it and sorts it according to thickness for different uses.
These earrings use the section
closest to the straw tips.
These use the parts
closest to the roots.
Straw is uneven, and anyone can
make stuff with an uneven finish.
As an artist, I'm conscious of beautifully and
evenly weaving the straw. I can't compromise.
Putting a new twist on traditional techniques redefines the craft and inspires accessories on a par with modern jewelry.
December 26th, and the new year is around the corner.
An eight-meter-long "shimenawa," or sacred rope, is being hung at Fushimi Inari Taisha.
Special "shimenawa" ropes welcome the deity of the new year who will protect people throughout the year and bring them fortune.
Householders hang smaller versions over their entryways.
The "shimenawa" at Fushimi Inari is distinctive in that it has around 50 sheaves of rice straw hanging from it.
This enormous "shimenawa" is made in Miyama, which lies north of the city.
Some twenty members of the community are involved in producing these New Year adornments.
They toil for two weeks making almost 70 small and large "shimenawa" to be hung throughout the precincts of Fushimi Inari.
The one hung at the main shrine is the most labor intensive.
With a length of eight meters and a diameter of 20 centimeters, it takes four men, four hours to create.
They fatten the "shimenawa" by having bundles of straw added as they twist.
If they let go, it unravels, so they work without a break.
I'm exhausted.
They're worn and dry. Our hands
bump into each other as we weave.
The production of the "shimenawa" is overseen by the oldest member of the group - 94-year-old Okamoto Masaru.
He has been involved in making "shimenawa" for around three decades.
It's a badge of honor.
Making the "shimenawa" for a grand place
like Fushimi Inari is a job to be proud of.
However, the "shimenawa"-making tradition was at one time in danger.
Until three years ago,
the old group was making it.
But all the skilled members had died, so three years ago I passed
the baton to the current group.
The town is suffering from depopulation, and in the last two decades the 5,000-strong population has dropped by a third.
Nakano Makoto took on the task in the belief that continuing the custom conveyed the region's charm.
I didn't want the "shimenawa" tradition
to die out.
Nakano asked around the community and gathered younger members, many of whom have recently relocated to the area.
I will look forward to this every year.
It's fun working with straw.
Living in the city, I'd only seen
the finished product.
Watching the process is new, and making one
with my own hands has taught me a lot.
It's a new world for those
who moved into the area.
They know no one.
But by working like this, they can meet people and
make friends, and I think that's valuable.
While working, established residents and newcomers interact and learn about the local customs and culture.
This engenders a love for the community and may lead to an increase in the number of permanent residents.
Having the kids watch all this
from a young age instills - a pride for their community
and a desire to keep the custom alive.
These works of art by Fujii Momoko have a "shimenawa" motif.
She them for this art event held at a temple, where they were all well received.
Fujii is active in reintroducing the endangered craft into modern lifestyles.
It's hard to twist straw when it's crisp,
so you pound it to make it pliable.
On this day, she held a "shimenawa" workshop to make a bouquet-like item that would suit contemporary interiors.
By the way, this is the first time
for everyone to work with straw, right?
Many of the participants are of a young age and have never touched straw.
In ropemaking, you have
a left twist and a right twist.
The right twist is used in everyday items,
such as sandals.
When making "shimenawa" for rituals,
the left twist is used.
With this difference between
the mundane and the spiritual, we will use the left twist
on this "shimenawa."
Draw your right hand toward you.
Can you see the straw turning?
Grab the straw closest to you and weave,
and we're back at the starting position.
Open your palms,
twist, grab, weave, open.
Straight. Put strength into your
entire palm and press firmly. Good.
Participants experience the skill and spirituality behind the once common craftwork, and Fujii hopes they recognize the importance of keeping the custom alive.
It's strenuous. It uses more
physical strength than I expected.
It's Japanese wisdom and sense of beauty.
I feel the potential of straw.
We must communicate this in
a form to meet the times, and I want to work harder
to pass it on.
January 12th.
The Miyama residents who made the "shimenawa" visit Fushimi Inari Taisha.
It's a splendid "shimenawa."
After admiring the "shimenawa" they made, they participate in the Housha-sai.
This new-year ritual drives away evil and welcomes positive influences.
Afterward, arrows are shot into a "shimenawa" in a special rite.
"Shimenawa" are generally seen to resemble snakes.
The word for snake is a homonym of the word for evil.
So the ropes are sometimes used in rituals to symbolize "driving away evil."
Because they shed their skin, snakes are also the symbol of "death and rebirth."
This is thought to resemble the planting and harvesting cycle of rice cultivation.
This "shimenawa" was also made in Miyama.
It is said that in days of old the way the arrow stuck predicted that year's rice harvest.
Today, arrows are shot in hopes of good fortune and prosperity for the year.
Rice, the source of life for the Japanese.
The deity of rice was believed to be found in the straw, so it is offered in prayer.
In craftwork, straw holds a beauty that touches modern sensibilities.
The prayers and beauty that lie within rice straw continue to connect the people of Kyoto.