Sanno Festival - Sanno Festival

This refers to the festival of Hie Shrine, located in Nagatacho, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. Many shrines that were derived from Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Omi (Sakamoto, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture) are generally called Hiyoshi or Hie, but from the Middle Ages to the early modern period, it was also called Hiyoshi Sanno Shrine or Sanno Gongen, so its festival was also called Sanno Festival. Since it was originally enshrined on Momijiyama in Edo Castle, it was considered the guardian deity of the Tokugawa Shogunate from Ieyasu onwards, and was also the main guardian deity of the western half of Edo Castle Town. Along with the Kanda Festival of Kanda Myojin (now Kanda Shrine), the main guardian deity of the eastern half, it was also called the official festival or the Tenka Festival, boasting the honor of being seen by the Shogun. The festival is held on June 15th, when three portable shrines from the main shrine are carried to the Otabisho shrine in Kayabacho, but the floats and processions that originally accompanied them, numbering over 60 at the end of the Edo period, have been almost all lost in repeated earthquakes and war damage, and the festival has now changed to one that focuses on a large number of town mikoshi. Since 1615 (Genwa 1), the main festival has alternated with the Kanda Festival every other year, and the festival in years when no portable shrines are carried out is called the Kage Festival.

[Minoru Sonoda]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

東京都千代田区永田町に鎮座する日枝(ひえ)神社の祭礼をいう。近江(おうみ)（滋賀県大津市坂本）の日吉(ひえ)大社を勧請(かんじょう)した多くの神社は一般に日吉ないし日枝と称するが、中世から近世まで日吉山王社とか山王権現(ごんげん)とも称されたので、その祭礼も山王祭とよばれた。もと江戸城内紅葉山(もみじやま)に鎮座していたため、家康以来徳川将軍家代々の産土神(うぶすながみ)とされ、また江戸城下町西半部の総鎮守(ちんじゅ)でもあった。同じくその東半部の総鎮守、神田(かんだ)明神（現、神田神社）の神田祭とともに将軍上覧の栄誉を誇って御用祭、天下祭とも称した。祭日は6月15日で、3基の本社神輿(みこし)が茅場町(かやばちょう)の御旅所(おたびしょ)へ神幸する形式だが、もとこれに供奉(ぐぶ)して江戸末期には60基を超えた山車(だし)・練物(ねりもの)も、たび重なる震災・戦災でほぼ消失し、現在では多数の町神輿主体の祭礼に変化している。なお1615年（元和1）以来、本祭を神田祭と隔年交代で執行し、神幸を出さぬ年の祭りを陰祭(かげまつり)という。

［薗田　稔］

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