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6/01/2011

Yakuyyoke

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yakuyoke 厄除け to ward off evil

often combined with
ushering in good luck (kaiun, kai-un 開運)



To ward off evil influence is especially important for the New Year and at the end of winter (Setsubun, February 3).
The purification rituals in the sixth lunar month, half-way through the year, are also very important.

Personal yakudoshi 厄年 "years of calamity" are also important.

An age of bad luck is referred to as yakudoshi.
yaku means “calamity” or “calamitous” and doshi (toshi) signifying “year(s).” These years are considered critical or dangerous because they are believed to bring bad luck and disaster to a person.

For men, the ages 25 and 42 are deemed critical years, with 42 being especially critical.

For women, the ages are 19 and 33, with 33 thought to be a particularly hard, terrible or disastrous year.

It is customary in these unlucky years to visit a temple or shrine to pray for divine protection from harm and buy a special amulet.

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. Hooyoke 八方除守護お守り
amulets for protection in all eight directions .


. hachinanyoke, hachinan yoke 八難除 avoiding the eight disasters .
at 阿佐谷神明宮 Asagaya Shinmeigu Shrine, Suginami, Tokyo
eight here stands for many, there is a long list
前厄除・本厄除・大厄除・後厄除・八方除・鬼門除・地相災除・家相災除・災難除・火難除・水難除・盗難除・係争除・因縁災除・墓相災除・霊碍除(悪霊退散)・移転方除・新築方除・改築方除・増築方除・改修方除・旅行方除・出張方除・転勤方除・建築方除・庭造方除・車庫方除・結婚方除・移転方災除・新築方災除・改築方災除・増築方災除・改修方災除・旅行方災除・出張方災除・転勤方災除・建築方災除・庭造方災除・車庫方災除・結婚方災除

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全国厄除け郷土玩具 by 中村浩訳 Nakamura Hironobu
. Yakuyoke Index of the book .

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Some famous yakuyoke amulets :


Joonanguu 城南宮 Jonan-Gu, Jonangu Shrine

During the Heian period, the deity to protect the country from evil was enshrined in
shrine. It was located in the South of the capital, and its deity is famous for protecting the "four courners".
Fushimi, Kyoto
京都市伏見区中島鳥羽離宮町 7

This shrine is famous for its various festivals according to old tradtions.

quote
Jonan-gu
is in the area that was under the peaceful rule of Emperor Toba. It was a strategic gateway to the ancient capital of Heian-kyo (now Kyoto). It was also a beautiful riverside scenic spot on the Kamogawa River.
... Thus, it was seen as a prosperous sub-capital at the heart of culture and government over a period spanning more than 150 years of the emperors and ex-emperors.

Before departing on their pilgrimages, the nobility prayed for safe journey along the way as well as purifying themselves by abstaining from eating meat. In particular, the Ex-emperors, Shirakawa and Toba often chose Jonan-gu as a spiritual place to start their pilgrimages to Kumano. They would seclude themselves and do purificiation rites for seven days before departing on the pilgrimage of devotion which took a full month for the roundtrip. In those times, many people chose Jonan-gu because it impressed people with its lodgings, and it was believed that Jonan-gu was a suitable place to start from for a religious journey.
source : 99oji.blogspot.jp


Reference : http://www.jonangu.com/

Amulets from Jonan-Gu

hooyoke 八方除守護お守り protection in all eight directions
source : www.jonangu.com/pray.htm



observance kigo for late autumn

Joonan matsuri 城南祭 (じょうなんまつり) Jonan Festival
..... Joonanjin matsuri 城南神祭(じょうなんじんまつり)
Third sunday in October



This shrine is also called Mahataki Jinja 真幡寸神社.
On the festival day three mikoshi portable shrines decorated with Pine, Bamboo and Plum (Shoochikubai) are carried around in a large procession in the evening.
In former times there were also horse races and shooting competitions (Jonan yabusame).


腹あしき僧も餅くへ城南神
hara ashiki soo mo mochi ku e Joonanjin

even the mean monks
come to eat rice cakes -
God of Jonan


. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 visiting Jonangu .

hara ashi 腹悪し to be mean, malicious

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. Kamo Shrine 賀茂神社  Kyoto .


from Shimogamo Shrine 下鴨神社
with the three-legged crow, yatagarasu 八咫烏

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Kanegasaki guu 金崎宮 in Tsuruga, Fukui



The sister of warlord Oda Nobunaga, O-Ichi no Kata (お市の方)was married off to a man, who might want to betray her brother, Nobunaga.
So when she found out of this betrayal, she sent a secret message, just a bag of small beans, to her brother. (Thus another war began.)


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Katori Jingu 香取神宮 Chiba

A powerful amulet against sainan 災難除守 misfortune and disaster



Especially to avoid disaster during earthquakes.

. Katori and the Kashima Faith .

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Keta Taisha 気多大社 Ishikawa
has a special amulet, refering to a pun of the meaning



keta, a lot of KI, good energy, and thus to increase your energy too.

. Keta Taisha shrine festivals .

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Okusawa Jinja 奥澤神社 Tokyo


. yakuyoke daija no ema 厄除け大蛇の絵馬
votive tablet of the giant snake to ward off evil .


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Seimei Jinja 清明神社 Kyoto

Shrines in honor of Abe no Seimei, a famous geomancer, often have a talisman with a peach.
yakuyoke momo 厄除桃 peach to ward off evil

. . . CLICK here for Photos !

. Abe no Seimei 阿倍晴明 (921 - 1005) .

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Tobi Fudo 飛不動尊, Temple Shobo-In 正宝院

“Hiko-Mamori”飛行守り to ward off evil during a flight
. Tobi Fudo ... 飛不動尊 ... Flying Fudo .

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Toono Go Hachimangu  遠野郷八幡宮  Iwate



hoshi fuuji mamori 星封じ守り
"bring the stars under control"


Made from a special stone, kakusenseki 角閃石, which is believed to have special powers since olden times.

"Whoever controles the stars in the sky, will also control the humans on earth!"
The Star Festival of this shrine is also quite famous.

. Star Shrines, Hoshi Jinja 星神社 .


Yearly festivals of the shrine


1 January Gantan-sai - New Year's Festival
15 January Toshikoshi-sai - New Year's first performance of Hachiman Kagura
3 February Setsubun-sai - Throwing beans to drive away evil spirits
5 May Izumo-okami-sai - Spring Festival
13 September Yoimiya-sai - Eve of the annual Autumn Festival
14 September Mikoshi-togyo - The portable shrine goes around Tono City
15 September Reitai-sai - Autumn Festival
source : www.tonotv.com

quote
Tono Matsuri 遠野祭り
Tono Festival held in the middle of September every year is an annual autumn festival of Tonogo Hachimangu Shrine in Tono City, Iwate Prefecture. During the festival, visitors can enjoy various local performing arts that have been handed down in the Tohoku region, which is said to be the treasure trove of Japanese folk performing arts.
On the first day, the parade of performing artists such as the troupes of deer dancing and the Nanbu-bayashi musicians march through the town. The collaborative stage of various local performing arts including a kagura-dance is held in town.

On the second day, the Yabusame (horseback archery) in the Tono Nanbu style is dedicated to the deities. It is said that Yabusame in Tono was first dedicated about 400 years ago by the Nanbu clan, who were descended from the Seiwa Genji branch of the Minamoto clan. The scenes of valliant warriors having their horses run around the 220-meter long riding ground erupt into cheers and applause from the spectators.
source : nippon-kichi.jp

. . . CLICK here for Festival Photos !

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Wake Jinja 和気神社 Okayama
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
岡山県和気郡和気町藤野1385

The Life Story of Wake no Kiyo Maro, who was born here
The shrine is also dedicated to the Wild Boar as the divine messenger.
和気清麻呂公絵巻
source : wakeasomi


triangular sacred lots (mikuji) from Wake Shrine

. shinshi 神使 divine messenger .

A similar story of the wild boar is here :
. Go-Oo Jinja 護王神社 Kyoto .
Wake no Kiyo Maro 和気清麻呂 and the wild boars

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happoo yoke shugo, hooyoke 八方除守護お守り protection for the eight directions
shrine Mikuriya Jinja


happoo fusagari 八方塞がり
to ward off evil influence from all eight directions

. Arima Tosen Shrine 有馬 湯泉神社 Toosen Jinja .



Hasshoojin 八将神(Deity of the eight directions
. Amulets for protection in all eight directions .

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Yakuyoke Daruma 厄除けだるま
. Special Daruma Dolls .






Yakuyoke Daruma Senbei
from Sano Yakuyoke Daishi 佐野厄除け大師
source : www.ajinohanamaru.com



. Gofunai Henro temples, 厄除大師 Yakuyuoke Daishi .
Nr. 25 - Choorakuji 長楽寺 Choraku-Ji
Nr. 84 - Myoo-In 明王院 Myo-O-In

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Yakuyoke Daruma Furin 厄除だるま風鈴
wind chimes to ward off evil

from Kawasaki Daishi 川崎厄除け大師



. Wind chimes for good luck .

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- - - - - . yakuyoke uchiwa 厄除けうちわ handfan to ward off evil influence .
at the summer festival for the god of Tooka Daimyoojin 稲荷大明神 Toka Daimyojin


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kigo for the New Year

Yakuyoke no Kami 厄除けの神 is a god deity like Hachiman, who prevents bad luck.

Yakujin mairi 厄神詣 (やくじんまいり) Visiting the Yakujin deity

yakumairi, yaku mairi 厄参(やくまいり), yakumoode 厄詣(やくもうで)
Yahata ekijin moode 八幡厄神詣(やはたえきじんもうで)
Yakujinsai 厄神祭(やくじんさい)Festival of the Yakujin


. Hachiman Shrine Rituals


. Yōka 八日様 Yoka Sama, the Honorable Day Eight .
with rituals for 厄神 Yakujin

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kigo for late summer

The last day of the year (December 31, oomisoka) and the last day of the first half of the year (June 30, misoka) are specially celebrated with rituals of purification in the Shrines and Temples of Japan. The rituals of these two days are also called
"Great Purification" ooharae 大祓.
In some areas, the summer ceremonies occur on the last day of July.

. Summer Purification Ceremony (nagoshi)


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kigo for late winter

yakubarai 厄払 (やくばらい)
Casting off the Old Impurities and Sins

exorcise evil spirits

yakuotoshi, yaku otoshi 厄落 (やくおとし . 厄落とし)
Casting off the Old Impurities and Sins

yakumoode, yaku moode 厄詣(やくもうで)
visiting a shrine for purification rituals

yaku no takigi 厄の薪(やくのたきぎ)purification firewood
People write their name, age and codiac symbol on a piece of wood and throw it in the flames of a fire for purification

fuguri otoshi ふぐり落し(ふぐりおとし) "loosing something"
To leave behind the "old self", people would throw away a personal belonging, like a hairpin, on a crossroads to make it difficult for bad luck to follow them home after the shrine visit.

. The Setsubun Festival, February 3 .


yakubarai ningyoo 厄払い人形 doll to ward off evil
yokuyoke ningyoo 厄除け人形


CLICK for more dolls !

from Iwate, 岩手県和賀郡白木野地域 Waga district, Shirokino area
for the festival on January 19, when all is deep under snow. A huge straw doll of about 1 meter is bound to a tree at the entrance of the village to ward off deities of epidemic to come in and do harm, They pray for one year of good health.
Small dolls are now a souvenir of the region.

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yaku harai, yakuharai 厄払い / 厄はらい exorcism in Edo
Driving Out Misfortune / Driving out bad luck / ritual cleansing of pollution
the removal of misfortune by ritualistic behavior.
They walked in the streets of Edo after Sunset one day before Setsubun and called out to "drive out evil" against some money. They would chant some Buddhist sutras and hand over some beans to throw at the demons.

They appear in the "Scene on the Bank of the Sumida River" in the Kabuki play by Kawatake Mokuami.



source : mfa.org - Boston
Yaku-harai - Driving Out Misfortune (Yaku harai) / Nosaki Kyûsaku 野咲急作
Refers to the cholera epidemic, 1855 (Ansei 2).


. daidoogei 大道芸 Daidogei street performance in Edo .

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. Yakudoshi, the unlucky years of a person
warding off evil during the Fuchuu matsuri 府中祭 Fuchu Festival


. Yakuyoke Fudo 厄除不動 Fudo to ward off evil - Introduction .

. Yugasan Yakuyoke Fudo 由加山厄除不動


. Kirimori Yakuyoke Fudo 厄除け不動尊


. Hokuto 北斗 the Big Dipper amulets .
妙見菩薩 Myoken Bosatsu


. kideko, ki deko 木でこ head made from wood
Ootomo ningyoo 大友人形 Otomo dolls .

yakuyoke dolls from Beppu, Oita

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from OkuniTama Shrine 大国魂神社


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representing their village, they make a pilgrimage to Ise Shrine --

おとし厄馬につけたりいせ参り
otoshi yaku uma ni tsuketari Ise mairi

onto the horse
they load bad luck
for the gods in Ise

Tr. Chris Drake

This hokku is from the 12th month (January) of 1825. It has a headnote saying that it is about a year-end or perhaps a New Year's pilgrimage to the large Ise Shrine by one person or, more likely, a small group of people selected to represent the whole village. From Issa's hometown, a pilgrimage to Ise by foot would be expensive and a journey of about 3-4 days one way, so villages relied on representatives who usually served for a year. The pilgrimage in Issa's hokku is being made to offer prayers to the female sun god Amaterasu and other gods at Ise Shrine complex, mainly prayers that ask the gods to remove or lessen the bad luck or misfortune (yaku) that villagers of a certain age (by Japanese count) will, according to popular belief, experience in the coming year.

Men aged 25, 42, or 61 and women aged 19, 33, and 37 were believed to be likely to have misfortune because of their age, although the year before and the year after each dangerous age was also considered moderately dangerous. During each of these years, many people made special prayers for purification or asked the village's designated representatives to convey their prayers to the Ise Shrine. Prayers were often delivered by village representatives in the form personal articles from villagers that represented the discarded or "dropped" misfortune of the person giving the object. These objects were then symbolically given to the Ise Shrine gods, who were believed to purify them.

It's unclear whether Issa believed in this custom of making purifications just before an unlucky year begins, but the year 1823, when Issa was 61 (an unlucky year for men), was truly a time of misfortune for him personally: both his wife Kiku and his fourth child (and third son) Konzaburo died. Uncannily enough, in the year in which Issa's wife died she was 37, an unlucky year for women. In any case, it seems unlikely that Issa himself believed in purification by proxy, which would be equivalent to reciting Amida Buddha's name mechanically and in a self-centered way.

In the present hokku, Issa seems to be sympathizing with people who feel they've run out of luck -- and especially with the horse that is taken along on the pilgrimage. The representatives are probably making the pilgrimage on foot, leading the packhorse with its load of things they will need on the trip as well as articles from villagers that are being carried to Ise Shrine for purification. The fact that a packhorse is needed to carry all the various objects from villagers might suggest that many people in Issa's hometown beyond those of a special age are having bad luck and are worried about the coming year. People who were down on their luck often made prayers to prevent misfortune for years that were not "danger years" for them, so the horse may be carrying quite a load, and Issa may also be worried that during the journey the bad-luck horse will suffer under the weight of all the discarded misfortune.

Chris Drake


. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


. Ise mairi 伊勢まいり pilgrimage to Ise shrine .

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浅草や一厄おとす寺参り
Asakusa ya hito yaku otosu tera mairi

my dear Asakusa -
to cast off old impurities
I visit the temple


Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶

. Asakusa 浅草 district in Edo .

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君が代や年々に減る厄払
waga dai ya nennen ni heru yakubarai

people of my age -
with the passing of years
less impurities to cleanse


Natsume Soseki 夏目漱石






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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Gabi!
Great information.

Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Yakubyoogami 疫病神 Yakubyogami, Deity of Diseases
eyami no kami えやみのかみ

gyooyakujin 行疫神 gyoyakujin
ekijin, yakujin 疫神
.

Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Shikoku Henro
Nr. 23 - 医王山 Iozan 無量寿院 Muryoju-In 薬王寺 Yakuo-Ji

one of the most popular temples on the pilgrimage,

Founded by Gyōki in the 8th century, this temple is known as the temple 'par excellence' for protecting yourself from the dangers of misfortunes (Yaku-yoke) due to your age.
.
more

Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

日本三躰除厄弘法 Yakuyoke Kobo Daishi Temples

one is
Osshinji 乙津寺 Osshin-Ji - Umedera 梅寺 "Plum Blossom Temple"
瑞甲山 Zuikozan 乙津寺 Osshin-Ji
.
岐阜市鏡島1328 - 1328 Kagashima, Gifu Town, Gifu
.

Gabi Greve - Kappa said...

Matsubara Kappa Sha 松原河童社
at Saga Jinja 佐嘉神社, Saga, Kyushu 佐賀
.
kappa yoke, kappayoke 河童除け to ward off the evil influence of a kappa, especially water accidents
.
Kappapedia, the Water Goblin
.

Gabi Greve said...

Kobayashi Issa

誂へてやるや扇の厄おとし
atsuraete yaru ya oogi no yaku otoshi

by special request
my paper fan
is exorcised


Or: "the paper fan." Issa refers to a winter exorcism ritual. Someone expressly drives evil spirits from the fan.
David Lanoue
.

Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Nagasaki 長崎市
.
On the 1st day of June men of the age of 41, their yakudoshi 厄年 year of calamity, go to 諏訪神社 the Suwa Shrine for a special purification ritual.
After that they go to a restaurant or bar and start drinking. These men do not go home the whole day.
If they would go home, they will be cursed.
.
https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2020/03/suwa-jinja-legends.html
.