Quote from "A Portrait of Oomoto" by Bill Roberts
At 11 PM, every prayer maiden left the stage, each taking one pot of hitogata. Accompanied by twenties priests, they left the Choseiden to begin the 500 meters march to the river. Outsides they were joined by torchbearers, their flames sharply etched in the black night.
When everyone was outside, they began the slow procession, crossing Baishoen and then winding through the streets of Ayabe to the bridge where several small bonfires burned.
The spiritual leader led the priests onto the bridge and began the Kamigoto. The prayer maidens handed their pots to the priests who open them and began to toss hitogata into the river, first a few, then a few more and finally a blizzard of papers fell silently into the Wachi.
Photo by Katsuya Kimura
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