Black

Japanese: アカマタ･クロマタ - あかまた･くろまた

This masked god appears in the harvest festival (Pool) held in the sixth month of the lunar month in villages around Komi on Iriomote Island in the Yaeyama Islands. Covered in wild vegetation, he emerges from deep within the forest into the village, his entire body swaying to a subtle rhythm. Only members of a secret society made up of adult men who have undergone a certain rite of passage can directly participate in the rituals of this masked god. Women and children are excluded from the core of the ritual. However, what is interesting is that this masked god himself has a deep symbolic connection to the externality, otherworldliness, and non-sociality that are connected to the true nature of the women and children who were supposed to have been excluded.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

八重山群島西表（いりおもて）島の古見を中心とする村々で旧6月におこなわれる豊年祭〈プール〉に登場する仮面仮装の神。野生の草木におおわれた全身を微細なリズムに揺らしつつ森の奥深くから村の中に立ち現れるこの仮面神の祭祀には，一定の通過儀礼をへた成人男子の構成する秘密結社の成員だけが直接参与できる。女･子どもは祭祀の中核から排除される。だが興味深いのは，この仮面神自身が排除されたはずの女･子どもの本性につながる外部性，他界性，非社会性などと深い象徴的な結びつきをもっていることである。

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

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