Sea God Festival - Umigami Festival

This is a village event held on Yoron Island in the Amami Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, the Kunigami District area of ​​Okinawa Prefecture, and the Iheya Islands in Shimajiri District. Locally, it is called Umigami (Ungami, Unjami, etc.). In the Ryukyu Kingdom Origin Record (1713), it is called Umigami Orime. Orime means a festival day. In the Motobu Peninsula area of ​​Kunigami District, it is also called Oorime (Ufuunmi).

It is an event held in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and in many places it is held on the day of the boar after the Bon festival. It is the time when the grain harvest is finished and the year turns into a new year in the agricultural calendar, and at that time, a female priest (Noro) is appointed as the celebrant to welcome the sea god and pray for a good harvest and a good catch. In many villages, it is held in pairs with Shinugu. In the northern part of Kunigami County, there are villages that hold it every other year with the Shinugu festival, and some explain the Sea God Festival as a festival for women and the Shinugu as a festival for men, while others refer to the Shinugu as the large (Ufu) Shinugu and the Sea God Festival as the small (Gwa) Shinugu, depending on the scale. While the Shinugu is a coming-of-age ritual purification event performed by a village organization mainly composed of boys, the Sea God Festival on Yoron Island has the flavor of a prayer ritual performed by a female-centered ritual organization led by a female priest, such as the Nuruunjami, which is accompanied by a coming-of-age shaman ritual.

Rites vary greatly from village to village, but typically involve welcoming the sea god from land jutting out into the sea, singing sacred songs and dancing at the village festival grounds, and carrying out rituals such as fishing with a net, dolphin catching and rowing a boat. Some villages also hold demonstrations of rowing races. In other rites, a ritual is held in which a wild boar is shot with a bow and arrow, and a replica wild boar is offered to the sea god as a souvenir from the mountain god. In some villages, wild boar hunting is carried out at a shinugu, and the content of the sea god festival and the shinugu can overlap in some places. In Kunigami County, it is one of the largest village events, along with the shinugu.

[Yo Kojima]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

鹿児島県奄美(あまみ)諸島与論島、沖縄県国頭(くにがみ)郡一帯、島尻(しまじり)郡伊平屋(いへや)諸島などで行われる村の行事。地元では海神(うみがみ)（ウンガミ、ウンジャミなど）という。『琉球国(りゅうきゅうこく)由来記』（1713）には「海神折目(うみがみおりめ)」とある。折目は節日の意である。国頭郡本部(もとぶ)半島地方では大折目(おおおりめ)（ウフウンミ）ともいう。

　旧暦7月の行事で、盆行事後の亥(い)の日とする所が多い。穀物の収穫を終えた、農耕暦の1年の境目の時期で、そのときにあたり、祝女(のろ)を司祭者として、海神を迎え、豊作と豊漁を祈願する。シヌグと対(つい)をなしている村も多い。国頭郡北部には、シヌグと隔年に行う村もあり、海神祭を女の節供、シヌグを男の節供と説明したり、シヌグを大(ウフ)シヌグ、海神祭をシヌグ小(グワー)と規模により呼び分けたりしている。シヌグが、成人儀礼的な男子を中心とする村落組織による祓(はらえ)の行事であるのに対して、海神祭は、与論島で祝女海神(のろうみがみ)（ヌルウンジャミ）というように、成巫(せいふ)儀礼を伴う、祝女が率いる女子中心の祭祀(さいし)組織による祈願の神事の色彩が濃い。

　神事は、村による変化も大きいが、海に突き出た土地から海神を迎え、村の祭場で神歌を歌って踊り、魚の網漁、イルカ漁、船漕(こ)ぎなどの所作事をするのが普通である。競漕(きょうそう)を実演する村もある。イノシシを弓矢で射る所作事をし、イノシシの模擬品を、山の神の土産(みやげ)として、海神に供える神事もある。イノシシ狩はシヌグで行う村もあり、海神祭とシヌグは内容にも交錯しているところがある。国頭郡では、シヌグとともに、もっとも大掛りな村の行事になっている。

［小島瓔］

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