Mekari Shinto Ritual - Mekari no Shinji

This special ritual is held at Mekari Shrine (formerly Prefectural Shrine), located in Mekari-cho, Moji Ward, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, from the last day of the 12th month of the lunar calendar to the early hours of New Year's Day. The same ritual is also held at Sumiyoshi Shrine (formerly Kanpei-chusha), located on the opposite bank across the Kanmon Straits, at the same time on the same day. This mystical event involves three priests dressed in formal attire, entering the sea with sickles and torches at low tide between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m., harvesting wakame seaweed and offering it to the altar. This wakame seaweed is said to cure all illnesses, and was even presented to the Imperial Court. When Empress Jingu was sailing around the area to conquer the Three Kingdoms, she used the Nyoiju (wish-granting jewel) that Azumi Isoura no Kami offered her from the sea. This ritual is said to convey the tradition that the Empress learned the law of low and high tides from Isoura no Kami. It is significant that offerings from the land are collected as the first sacred offering on New Year's Day.

[Minoru Sonoda]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

福岡県北九州市門司(もじ)区和布刈町に鎮座する和布刈神社（旧県社）で旧暦12月晦日(みそか)から元旦(がんたん)の未明にかけて執行される特殊神事。関門海峡を隔てた対岸に鎮座する住吉(すみよし)神社（旧官幣中社）でも同日同時刻に同神事を執行する。深夜午前1時から3時ごろの干潮時に神職3人が正装し、鎌(かま)と松明(たいまつ)を持って海中に入り、和布(わかめ)を刈り取って神前に供える神秘の行事。この和布は万病に効くと伝えられ、朝廷にも献上した。神功(じんぐう)皇后がいわゆる「三韓(さんかん)征伐」のため付近を航海中に安曇磯良神(あずみいそらのかみ)が海中より献上した如意珠(にょいじゅ)を使って三韓を征したが、皇后が磯良神より潮干・潮満の法を学んだ遺風を伝えるのがこの神事という。元旦最初の神供として土地所産の供物を採取する意義がある。

［薗田　稔］

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