Sending off the plague - Ekibyookuri

...This custom was a magical ritual to cut off ties with parents and pray for the healthy growth of children so that the bad conditions of the parents, such as misfortune, would not be passed on to the child, but the children who were abandoned were all those who bore some kind of stigmata (stigmata) different from normal children. In the creation myths of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, there is a description of a child born and abandoned as a result of the mistake of the two gods Izanagi and Izanami. In the past, abnormal birth and growth must have been considered to be a sign of the karma of the parents or ancestors, and the method of abandoning a child by dressing it in red clothes and placing it on a winnowing basket or straw sack is similar to the form of a plague-fighting ceremony. In other words, abandoning a child could be said to be a kind of atonement to remove misfortune from the family and ensure its prosperity.

*Some of the terminology that refers to "plague sending" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…この習俗は厄など親の悪条件が子に移らぬようかりに親子の縁を切り子どもの健全な成育を願った呪的な儀礼であるが，また捨てられる子供はいずれも普通の子どもとは何かしら異なったスティグマ(聖痕)を負った者たちであった。記紀の創世神話にも伊弉諾（いざなき）尊･伊弉冉（いざなみ）尊二神の誤りの結果蛭子（ひるこ）が生まれて捨てられる記述があるが，かつては異常な出誕･成長が親や先祖の業報の表れと観念されたに違いなく，また子供をかりに捨てる際，赤い服を着せて箕（み）や桟俵（さんだわら）に乗せ捨てる方法は疫病送りの形式に類似している。つまり捨子とは，家の災いを取り除く一種の厄落しとしてその繁栄を保証する贖罪であったともいえる。…

※「疫病送り」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報