Visiting God - Raihoshin

Japanese: 来訪神 - らいほうしん

These gods are said to visit the world of people once a year at the change of seasons and bring fertility and happiness. Belief in visiting gods is widespread around the world, and is also popular in Japan as a form of marebito faith. Many visiting gods appear in strange forms, with people wearing masks. In Japan, well-known gods include those related to Namahage in the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions, Toshidon and Bose in Kyushu, and Milk, Panto, Akamata Kuromata, Mayunganashi, and Fusamara in Okinawa. Akamata Kuromata of Yaeyama, Okinawa, appears wearing a red or black mask and covering his entire body with leaves, and after being welcomed by the villagers, he visits each house in the village and is believed to bring fertility to the crops that will come. Most of the people who wear masks are young people or villagers with special qualifications. In particular, Akamata Kuromata is performed by a group with a strong mystical character, and it has been pointed out that it resembles the masked visits of the gods that are the secret societies of Melanesia. (→ Foreigners' Visits, Men's Society)

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

1年に1度季節の変り目に人々の世界に来訪して，豊饒や幸福をもたらすとされる神々。来訪神信仰は世界各地で広く行われており，日本でもまれびと信仰として盛んである。来訪神の多くは人々が仮面仮装した異形の姿で現れるが，日本では，東北・北陸地方のなまはげの系統のものや，九州のトシドン，ボセ，沖縄のミルク，パーント，アカマタクロマタ，マユンガナシ，フサマラーなどが知られている。沖縄八重山のアカマタクロマタは赤や黒の仮面をつけ，木の葉で身体全体をおおった姿で出現し，村人の歓迎を受けたのち，村中の各家をまわってきたるべき作物の豊饒をもたらすと信じられている。仮面仮装する者の多くは若者であり，また特別の資格をそなえた村人である。特にアカマタクロマタは秘儀的性格の強い集団によって行われており，メラネシアの秘密結社的な仮面仮装来訪神との類似性が指摘されている。 (→異郷人款待 ,　男子結社 ) 　

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