Autumn Festival

An autumn harvest thanksgiving festival. The word "autumn" is said to come from the festival of plenty (akiguhi). Autumn festivals are held to give thanks to the rice gods who have helped with the farming since spring and protected the rice fields, and to offer sacred food made from new grains and sacred sake. October in the lunar calendar is written as Kannazuki or Kannazuki, and it is said that the gods are away in Izumo, during which time people observe abstinence and are cautious. After a long period of abstinence, the Shimotsuki Festival was held in November of the lunar calendar as a harvest festival. Niiname-sai, which became the basis for today's Labor Thanksgiving Day, was both a harvest festival and a ritual to give birth to the spirits of rice, which would become the seeds for the next year.

It is believed that in ancient times, Japan's harvest festivals were held earlier. When rice cultivation was introduced to Japan, the variety was likely early-ripening (Wase). The Miao (Miao) people of southwestern China, who are closely related to the roots of Japanese rice, follow a unique Miao calendar, with New Year's Day falling in October of the Chinese lunar calendar. The Akha ethnic minority of northwestern Thailand also celebrate New Year's around October in the solar calendar, but the timing varies from village to village, as New Year's Day coincides with the harvest. When ancient Japan also followed the natural calendar, it was probably similar to the Akha calendar.

Even today, the timing of the Kariage Festival varies widely across the Japanese archipelago, which stretches from north to south. In the Tohoku region, it is called Sankyu-ka, and three ninth days of the ninth month of the lunar calendar are set aside for the rice harvest festival, while in the Kanto and Chubu regions, the harvest festival is held on the 10th day of the 10th month of the lunar calendar, called Tokan-ya. Children make straw guns out of new straw and go around hitting them against the ground. A similar event is called Inoko-sekku in the Kinki, Chugoku, and Shikoku regions, where people go around hitting the ground with an "Inokotsuki stone." In some areas in Kyushu, the Kariage Festival is held later, on the Rat and Ox days of November in the lunar calendar. In Higashihatase, Hatase, Fuji-cho, Saga City, Saga Prefecture, the first day of the month of November in the lunar calendar is called "Tanatenjinsan" and is a day to worship the rice field god, or the rice field god. The famous "Oku-Noto no Ae no Koto" is known as a folk Niiname-sai festival and is designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. On December 9th (originally November in the lunar calendar), the rice field god is invited as if he were a living person and treated to a feast. "Ae" comes from the Japanese word for "name" and means to entertain.

[Hidezaburo Hagiwara]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

秋の収穫感謝祭。秋ということばは飽食(あきぐひ)の祭りからきているという。春からの農耕を助け稲田を守ってくれた田の神に収穫を感謝し、新穀でつくった神饌(しんせん)、神酒でもてなすのが秋祭である。旧暦の10月をカンナヅキとし神無月などと書いて、俗に神々が出雲(いずも)に出かけて留守だといわれ、人々は物忌(ものいみ)をして慎しむ期間であった。長い物忌のあとに旧暦の11月に収穫祭として霜月祭が行われた。今日の勤労感謝の日のもとになった新嘗祭(にいなめさい)は、収穫祭であると同時に、翌年の種子たる稲の霊を誕生させる儀式でもあった。

　古くは日本の収穫祭の時期はもっと早かったと考えられている。日本に稲作が入ってきたころの品種は早稲(わせ)であったようである。日本の稲のルーツに関係の深い中国南西部のミャオ（苗）族は、独特の苗暦に従い、中国太陰暦の10月が苗暦の正月にあたる。また、タイ北西部の少数民族アカは太陽暦で10月ごろ正月を迎えるが、集落ごとに刈り入れと同時に正月となるので、時期はまちまちである。日本の古代も自然暦に従っていたころは、おそらくアカの暦と同様であったであろう。

　今日でも、南北に長い日本列島のこととて刈上(かりあげ)祭の時期はまちまちで、東北地方では、三九日といって、旧暦9月、三度の9日を稲の収穫祭にあてているし、関東、中部地方では、旧暦10月10日を十日夜(とおかんや)とよんで収穫祭を行う。子供たちが新藁(わら)で藁鉄砲をつくって地面をたたいて回る。似たような行事を近畿、中国、四国地方では亥子(いのこ)節供とよんで、「亥の子突きの石」で地面をたたいて回る。九州の刈上祭は遅れて、旧暦霜月の子(ね)の日、丑(うし)の日にする土地がある。佐賀県佐賀市富士町畑瀬(はたせ)の東畑瀬では旧暦11月の初子の日を「タナテンジンサン」といって田の天神様、つまり田の神を祀(まつ)る日としている。有名な「奥能登(のと)のあえのこと」は、民間の新嘗祭として知られ、重要無形民俗文化財に指定されている。12月9日（もとは旧暦11月）に、田の神を生ける人のごとく招請し御馳走(ごちそう)する。「あえ」は嘗(あえ)で、饗応(きょうおう)することである。

［萩原秀三郎］

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