Rice planting ritual - Otaue Shinji

…The entry for May 10, 1129 in the Choshu-ki describes the rice planting ceremony, in which the head of the field was Koen, a professional Sarugaku performer, 20 young girls planted the seedlings, and musicians playing drums, sasara, and flutes were called Dengaku-mono. The gorgeous scene is described, but a group of professional Dengaku-hoshi also participated, and it is known that the rice planting for the nobility had become even more of a performance art. This lively rice planting event was later passed down in various places as a Shinto ritual to plant rice fields at shrines, and the most representative example is the Otaise Shinto Ritual at Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Osaka City (currently held on June 14th), where professional Sarugaku and Dengaku performers would visit the shrine and perform on the rice field ridges until the early modern period. On the other hand, the practice of playing music for rice planting as a folk religious event was also passed down in various places. …

*Some of the terminology used in reference to the "Rice Planting Ceremony" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…《長秋記》大治4年(1129)5月10日条に記される田植では，田主を専門の猿楽芸能者である弘延（こうえん）がつとめたのをはじめ，苗を植える早乙女が20人，それに懸鼓，佐々良（ささら），笛などの囃し方を田楽者と呼んで，その華やかなようすを記しているが，別に職業芸能者の田楽法師の一団も参加しており，貴族御覧の田植が一段と芸能化していたことが知られる。このようなにぎやかな田植行事は，その後神社の神田などを植える神事として各地に伝承されるが，その代表的なものが大阪市住吉大社の御田植神事(現在6月14日)で，近世まで専業の猿楽者･田楽者が参勤して，田の畦（あぜ）を舞台に芸能を演じていた。一方，一般の田植でも民俗信仰行事として田植を囃すことは各地に伝えられた。…

※「御田植神事」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