By Neil Walsh
Setsubun Taisai is the event that marks the beginning of the year for Oomoto. According to the old Japanese astrological calendar, based on the Chinese one, the year is divided up into shifts in spiritual energy, called Setsubun. The largest of these shifts occurs on the third of February.
The Setsubun festival is celebrated at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples throughout Japan. Most Japanese people who attend Setsubun events take the ceremony lightly. The popular image of Setusbun is centered on the belief that one can purify ones life from evil spirits, casting them away by symbolically throwing roasted soy beans at them on this particular day. Usually, politicians, community leaders, or at the larger venues, celebrities will throw boxes of roasted soy beans into large crowds of people while calling out, oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi – Devil be gone, wealth come in.
The Oomoto Setsubun, however, has a great spiritual significance. Members who attend Setsubun undergo strenuous spiritual practice, sitting on their knees, in seiza, while chanting the Kamigoto, ritual song of purification, for six hours in the Choseiden, Long Life Hall, at Ayabe headquarters. The service begins at about seven PM on the night of the third and ends at five AM the next morning.
The continuous reading of the Kamigoto is proceeded by several rituals including an offering, kensen, and purification through sacred sound, kotodama. The kensen is same kind that takes place at the monthly ceremonies, tsukinamisai, however the offerings are much larger. Congregants watched the kensen like a sporting event. All eyes were on a heavy offering of rice cakes, mochi, as the priests transferred it to one another, to the timed dance of the Kamigoto’s song.
The head priest chanted the Japanese syllabary according to an ancient formula, kotodama purification, as two young women dressed in the garb of Heian era court nobility purified the altar in all directions. One carried a wand fitted with white paper streamers and hemp twine, the other a handheld glockenspiel like instrument. The pair would slide slowly in one direction and then move quickly, stopping after a few steps, one would wave the wand, the other turn the chimes.
As the congregation began to read the purification prayer, a long line of priests made their way down the main aisle of the Choseiden. The priests were followed by a long line of Seoritsuhime, female attendants dressed in white with indigo dyed aprons. They represented the goddess of the same name, who blesses places of purification. These women would spend the next six hours in seiza, reading out the names and prayers of tens of thousands of hitogata collected by Oomoto members from throughout the country.
Hitogata is an ancient Japanese tradition where people would transfer their kegare, negative energy, onto an origami, folded to look like a person in the ceremonial robes of Shinto purification. It symbolizes, in effect, a human sacrifice. A person would tell the kami what energy sins (tsumi) and blemishes (kegare) wanted to have removed and blow on the origami, or rub it on their forehead. They would then throw it into the ocean or a river while reciting an appropriate prayer. The ritual of the Hitogata can be found in that great work of Heian literature, The Tale of Gengi.
Oomoto members from around the country perform the hitogata ceremony for their friends, family, and neighbors. Recipients usually give a small monetary donation for every hitogata ceremony performed, though this is not obligatory. Participants in the hitogata ceremony are given a protective amulet to keep with them for the year. Old amulets are discarded after a year. This tradition is common in Japan. During the New Year’s festival at the beginning of January, temples and shrines keep a small fire where last year’s fortunes and amulets are burned.
The Seoritsuhime sitting in seiza on the main alter read the name on every hitogata and place them into un-lacquered clay jars. The jars are carried to the Wachi river by a parade of priests wielding torches, Seoritsuhime, and congregants. Because of the large number of hitogata there are two parades to the Wachi river, one at eleven thirty, the other at three AM. The hitogata are thrown into the river as the Spiritual Leader Madame Kurenai Deguchi leads everyone present the in chanting the kamigoto.
As the parade winds its way down the streets of Ayabe to and from the river, local shop keepers line the streets in kimono, bowing and offering formal greetings. Oomoto has a good relationship with the residents of Ayabe. I was surprised to find this out when I visited some of the local bars on past trips to the town. Bar owners had a good opinion of Oomoto and told me that every year, they request hitogata for Setsubun.
At the end of the purification practice, the Spiritual Leader, Madame Kurenai Deguchi, and acting priests throw fresh soy bean to participants, chanting, oni wa uchi, fuku wa uchi – Invite the spirit, invite wealth. Fresh soybeans are used to represent spiritual seeds which can grow in the fertile soil of the soul. There is a mad scramble in the Choseiden for the fresh beans, some of which will be planted others will be used to make special a special rice dish.
There are other shrines and temples throughout Japan where “Oni wa uchi, fuku wa uchi,” can be heard at Setsubun. There are many local variations of the Setsubun spell, however I believe that Oomoto is the only group that uses fresh soybeans. The fresh soybeans have a deep spiritual meaning to Oomoto members. According to the prayer book given out at the ceremony:
In Shinto, there is a belief that Kokuso no ookami is a good god hiding in evil disguise. It is said, "the day flowers bloom on roasted beans, Kokuso no ookami will reveal himself as good." Of course it is impossible for flowers to bloom on scorched beans; we would have to wait an eternity for it to happen. However, on the evening of Setsubun, 1892 that god appeared in this world as good, through the medium of Nao Deguchi, foundress of our faith. The time of waiting is over! God is revealed! This is the age to invite God in, "Oni wa uchi" and invite in good fortune, "Fuku wa uchi".
When Nao Deguchi was possessed the god Kokuso no ookami as Ushitora no konjin, she was at a low point in her life. She had experienced much loss, pain, and hardship in her life. She was receiving messages from god; illiterate, she was unable to put her messages down on paper. She begged God to allow her to write her message down through her. She began saying that, “The world of the Kami (god) shall burst forth like the plum tree in winter.” The flower had truly blossomed on the roasted beans, much as the stone which the builders rejected became the corner stone. Nao She would go onto write hundreds of thousands of pages all of which called for men to purify themselves to prepare for the coming of the age of God Maitreya – Miroku no yo.
The hymn of Setsubun beautifully sums up the meaning of Setusbun allegorically:
Three thousand years ago, the Spirit of Izu first descended from heaven to visit all the ends of the earth and sing exquisite songs, numbering ten thousand by one thousand.
You, the good of the Spirit of Izu, whose name is ushitora, were hidden by the world. You, who are the plum flower of the three thousand worlds, whose sweet smell is unchanging, for too long your spring never came.
But now you came out from your cave. You light up the dark night. We offer thanks to this work of God, songs of praise we will offer, numbering ten thousand by one thousand.
This is our great purification.
Young and old both sing your song. The blessing of sunlight and spring alike. Peace shall shine in heaven and on earth. Winter’s midnight has turned into a landscape of Spring. The change has come! The world of the God Maitreya is here! We shall sing the songs of praise; one hundred times by a thousand.
