Sanaburi

It is a celebration of the end of rice planting. The spelling "sanae-buri" is a baseless phonetic spelling. In the Kyushu region, it is called sanobori, the day when the rice god returns to heaven after finishing rice planting. In Shizuoka Prefecture and other areas, the day when rice planting begins is called Saori (the day when the rice god descends from heaven), so it is thought that "sa" meant "rice god". There are two types of sanaburi: ie sanaburi, which is a celebration when each household finishes rice planting, and mura sanaburi, which is held when the entire village finishes rice planting. In the Kansai region, sanaburi is often called shiromite, and like sanaburi, there are two types: small shiromite for each household and large shiromite for the entire village. The date of ie sanaburi is not usually fixed, and when one household finishes, another household's sanaburi is held the next day. Since village sanaburi is held after the entire village has finished rice planting, a date can be decided, but it can also be held later, into July. In Shizuoka Prefecture and Nagano Prefecture, there are also cases where the date of village sanaburi is kept constant every year. On the day of sanabori, a small banquet is held for young girls and farm workers. In Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture, two bunches of seedlings, botamochi (rice cakes), fruit, etc. are offered to the Aragami-sama (wild god). Also, a horse hoe is washed thoroughly and offerings are made to it as well. Sanaburi usually refers to rice planting, but there are also cases where the sanaburi of wheat and sanaburi of potatoes are celebrated.

[Oto Tokihiko]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

田植終了の祝いをいう。早苗振りなどと書くのは根拠のない当て字である。九州地方ではサノボリといって、田の神が田植を終わって天に帰る日という。静岡県などで田植開始の日をサオリ（田の神が天から降(くだ)る日）ということによってみても、「サ」が「田の神」のことを意味していたと考えられる。サナブリには、めいめいの家の田植の終わった祝いである家サナブリと、村全体の田植の終わった場合の村サナブリとがある。関西地方ではサナブリのことをシロミテとよぶ土地が多く、これにもサナブリと同様に家々の小シロミテと、村全体の大シロミテとの二つがある。家サナブリは日が一定していないのが普通であり、一軒が終わるとまた次の日に他家のサナブリを行う。村サナブリは村全体の田植が終了してからのことであるので、期日を決めることができるが、遅れて7月に入ってする場合もある。また静岡県や長野県には、村サナブリの日を毎年一定している例もある。サノボリの際には早乙女(さおとめ)や作男に対して小宴を開いている。埼玉県川越市では荒神様に苗を2把、ぼた餅(もち)、果物などを供えるという。また馬鍬(まぐわ)をきれいに洗ってこれにも供え物をする。サナブリは普通田植についていうが、麦のサナブリ、芋のサナブリを祝う例もある。

［大藤時彦］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例