Kadomatsu

It is a living tree that is erected inside or outside the house during New Year's, and is called by various names depending on the place, such as worship pine, decorative pine, celebration pine, gate bayashi, and gate god pillar. It is generally called kadomatsu because pines are often erected at entrances to gates, but the materials, location, and style are not uniform throughout the country. In addition to pine, oak, camellia, willow, chestnut, magnolia, horse chestnut, sakaki, shikimi, and bamboo are used alone or in combinations of two or three types, and they are not limited to entrances, but can be erected in front of the outer garden, in the center of a living room indoors, in the tokonoma alcove, on the kamidana altar, or on the dirt floor, depending on the area and the house. When erected outdoors, it is common to erect a pair on the left and right, and sometimes a shimenawa (sacred rope) is stretched between them, but when erected indoors, it seems that a single tree is more common. It is said that it is preferable to use pine trees for both, and many places plant beautiful trees with seven, five, or three tiers of branches. They often tie yuzu, daidai, or kelp to the base, or place firewood around the base, and indoor trees are set up on rice bales as supports.

The reason for putting up kadomatsu is not simply as a decoration for New Year. Although it is no longer clearly recognized today, kadomatsu served as a dwelling place for the visiting toshigami (god of the year). In southern Kanto, Chubu and other areas, straw bowls are tied to kadomatsu and filled with zoni (rice cake soup) and other offerings are placed inside, and in Tsutome, Usuki City, Oita Prefecture, three tiers of kagami mochi (rice cakes stacked on a tray) are offered in front of the kadomatsu. This can be inferred from the many examples of offerings of special food, as well as the fact that kadomatsu are sometimes referred to by honorific titles such as Omatsu-sama and actually prayed to with their hands together. The belief that divine spirits reside in trees is by no means uncommon. Therefore, when cutting down a tree for a Kadomatsu from a nearby mountain, in some regions washed rice is offered to the selected tree, hands are clapped, and an axe is inserted into the tree with a pious heart, and care is taken to store the tree in a clean place in the house until it is erected. The day for cutting down the tree was once widely considered to be December 13th. The date for taking it down varies from place to place, but it is usually January 4th, 7th, or 14th in the Kyushu region, where the Kadomatsu is burned in a demon bonfire on the 7th, while in other regions it is commonly incinerated in a Sagicho or Dondo bonfire on Little New Year's Day.

After the Second World War, in the interest of forest management and lifestyle improvement, there was a trend to stop cutting down pine trees and erecting them ostentatiously. As a temporary measure, pictures of pine trees were printed on paper and pasted on entrance doors, but Kadomatsu are gradually disappearing from rural areas. Conversely, in urban areas, the trend of asking craftsmen to decorate entrance doors with pine and bamboo is becoming more popular. In addition, there are many regions where it is taboo to erect pine trees, as it is said that the guardian deity of the family pricked its eye with a pine tree.

[Noriaki Tanaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

正月に家の内外に立てる生木のことで、拝み松、飾り松、祝い松、門ばやし、門神柱など、所によっていろいろな呼び方がされている。松を門口に立てる例が多いことから門松と総称するのであるが、材料、場所、形式とも全国一律とはいえない。木は松のほか、楢(なら)、椿(つばき)、柳、栗(くり)、朴(ほお)、栃(とち)、榊(さかき)、樒(しきみ)、竹などが単独もしくは2、3種いっしょに用いられ、立てる場所も門口に限らず、外庭正面や屋内の座敷中央、床の間、神棚、土間など、土地により家によりさまざまである。屋外の場合は左右一対を立てるのが普通で、間に注連縄(しめなわ)を張り渡すこともあるが、屋内の場合は1本のことが多いようである。いずれも芯松(しんまつ)を用いるのが好ましいとされ、7段、5段、3段の枝ぶりのよいりっぱな木を立てる所も多い。ユズリハやダイダイ、昆布(こんぶ)を結び付けたり、根元には薪(たきぎ)を寄せかけたり、屋内のものは米俵を台にして立てたりもする。

　門松を立てる理由は、正月の単なる飾り物としてではない。現在では明確に意識されなくなってはいるが、門松は来臨する歳神（年神）(としがみ)の依代(よりしろ)の役を果たすものであった。南関東や中部地方その他で、門松に藁(わら)製の椀(わん)形の容器を結わえ付けて、中に雑煮などを入れ供えたり、大分県臼杵(うすき)市津留で門松の前に3段の鏡餅(かがみもち)を折敷膳(おしきぜん)にのせて供えるように、ハレ（晴）の食品を供える例の多いこと、およびお松様などと敬称でよび、実際に手をあわせて拝むことのあることなどから、依代であったことが推測できるのである。樹木に神霊が依(よ)り着くとする信仰はけっして珍しいことではない。したがって、近くの山から門松用の木を切ってくる際にも、これと決めた木に洗米を供えたり、拍手(かしわで)を打ち敬虔(けいけん)な心意の下に鉈(なた)を入れる地方もあり、迎えてからも立てるまでは家の清浄な場所に保存すべく配慮される。切ってくる日はかつては広く12月13日とされていた。取り去るのは1月4日、7日、14日など所により一定しないが、九州地方ではこの門松を7日の鬼火焚(だ)きに燃やし、他の地方では小正月の左義長(さぎちょう)、どんどの火で焼却するのが一般である。

　第二次世界大戦後、山林管理と生活改善運動の面から、松を伐採してはでやかに立てるのをやめる傾向にあり、過渡的なものとして松の絵を紙に印刷して門口に貼(は)り付けることが行われたが、農山村からはしだいに門松が姿を消しつつある。逆に都市部においては、職人などに頼んで門口に松、竹を飾る風が盛んになりつつある。なお、氏神が松で目を突いたからといい、松を立てるのを禁忌にしている地方も少なくない。

［田中宣一］

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