🏮 Tsuina Sai

追儺祭

Samukawa, Kanagawa (Samukawa Shrine) · Every year on 2 January

Traditional performing arts

110 days to go
Rooms around Samukawa, Kanagawa fill up while the festival is on.

The Tsuina-sai at Samukawa Shrine in Samukawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, also called oniyarai (driving out demons), is a ritual in which calamity is expelled through mimed actions. At 8 p.m., with all lights in the shrine grounds extinguished at once, officiants carrying helmets, kane (metal implements), and bows and arrows process through the grounds in the pure darkness, following the sound of drums and chanting "Naniwa no Koike." Sacred water drawn from that pond is sprinkled as kiyome (purification) at two places in the grounds, with prayers for the removal of calamity. In the middle of the ritual, in what is called takaramono kazoe (counting the treasures), the fukushicho (assistant chief priest) intones a chant and the officiants repeat it, praying for the complete sweeping away of calamity. After the ritual ends, the bows and arrows offered before the shrine are distributed to attendees as charms against misfortune.

Getting there

About 10 minutes on foot from JR Samukawa Station, or by bus from Chigasaki Station or Samukawa Station. Get off at "Samukawa Shrine Mae" and it is right there.