Sending off fire - Okuribi

Also called Kadobi, it generally refers to fires lit at the entrance of a house, at crossroads, or at graves after the end of O-bon to send off spirits. In some places, there is a custom of lighting a fire at the entrance of a house just before the coffin is carried out at a funeral, or when a daughter leaves her parents' home at a wedding; these are also called okuribi or kadobi. In the western part of Saitama Prefecture, it refers to a fire lit in front of a house on June 1st. O-bon okuribi refers to fires lit on the 16th, 24th, or 25th, as opposed to mukaebi, which is lit on the 13th, and are said to be a guide for the coming and going of the souls of ancestors. However, considering other fire-lighting customs, it could originally have been a fire that signified severance, driving away dangerous evil spirits with the power of fire. On June 1st, gate fires are made by burning wheat husks, and in the western part of Shizuoka Prefecture, incense is lit. Considering that this day is also known as Hake-sekku, a day for purification ceremonies, it can be seen that the fires are meant to drive away impurities that have accumulated on the body.

In many places, the bonfires are a household event, but in some places, villages join together and light them on the top of a small hill or on a riverbank, as in Yokote City, Akita Prefecture. The Daimonji-yaki festival at Nyoigatake in Higashiyama, Kyoto, has also become one of the seasonal summer events today, but it is a remnant of the Obon bonfires and represents the whole community sending off the spirits.

[Kamata Hisako]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

門火(かどび)ともいい、一般には盆が終わり、精霊(しょうりょう)を送るため、家の入口、四つ辻(つじ)、墓などで焚(た)く火のこと。所によっては葬式の出棺のまぎわ、あるいは婚礼のおり娘が生家を出るとき、家の入口で火を焚く習俗があり、これも送り火とか門火とよんでいる。埼玉県西部地方では6月1日に家の前で焚く火のことをさす。盆の送り火は、13日に焚く迎え火に対し、16日または24日、25日に焚く火をさし、先祖の霊魂の去来の道しるべというが、ほかの火焚きの習俗から考えて、本来は、火の力によって危険な悪霊を追い払うという絶縁を意味する火といえよう。6月1日の門火は、麦殻を燃やしたり、静岡県西部地方では線香を立てているが、この日は剥(は)け節供といって、祓(はらえ)の行事をする日であるところから考えて、身についた穢(けがれ)を追い払う火であることがわかる。

　送り火は家々の行事になっている所が多いが、村共同で、小高い山の頂や、秋田県横手市のように川原で焚く所もある。京都東山の如意ヶ岳(にょいがたけ)の大文字焼(だいもんじやき)も、今日では夏の風物詩の一つになっているが、盆の送り火の名残(なごり)であり、共同体全体で精霊を送ることを表している。

［鎌田久子］

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