Oimi Festival - Oimi Festival

Japanese: 大忌祭 - おおいみのまつり

This was one of the four seasonal festivals held at the Imperial Court during the Ritsuryo period, and was a Shinto ritual held at Hirose Shrine in Yamato Province (Kawai Town, Kitakatsuragi District, Nara Prefecture). It is also called Hirose Oiki Festival. According to the provisions of the Shinto Code, it was held as a minor festival on the 4th of April and July, alongside the Fujin Festival at Tatsuta Taisha Shrine. It originated in April 675 (the 4th year of Tenmu), when the Fujin was enshrined at Tatsuta and the Oikinami was enshrined at the river bend of Hirose, and it is recorded in the Rikkokushi, Nishinomiyaki, Kitayamasho, and other sources that it was held annually from then until the end of the Heian period. This ritual, which takes place at the confluence of various rivers that flow through the Nara Basin, including the Asuka River and the Hatsuse River, involves worshiping Hirose Okimi-no-Kami (a collective term for the deities enshrined at Hirose Shrine, including Wakaukanome-no-Mikoto) as the god of agricultural water, twice a year, once before rice planting and once before the harvest. Along with the Tatsuta Fuujin Festival, this was valued as a national ritual that controlled rice-cultivation rituals.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

律令時代の宮廷の四時祭（しじさい）の一つで，大和国広瀬神社(奈良県北葛城郡河合町)でおこなわれた神事。広瀬大忌祭ともいう。神祇令の規定では，竜田大社の風神祭と並んで4月，7月の4日に小祀として営まれた。675年(天武4)4月に風神を竜田に，大忌神を広瀬の河曲にまつったのが起源で，以後平安時代末まで毎年おこなわれたことが，六国史や《西宮記》《北山抄》などにみえる。奈良盆地を流れる飛鳥川，初瀬川など諸河川の合流点の河合地に農業用水の神として広瀬大忌神(若宇加能売（わかうかのめ）命をはじめとする広瀬神社祭神の総称)を田植の前と刈入れの前と2度まつったもので，竜田風神祭とともに稲作儀礼を掌握する国家的祭祀として重視された。

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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