Akutai Matsuri and Takinagashi-no-shiki

At Oiwa Tamonin Saishoji Temple, a festival of evil speaking (Akutai Matsuri) is held on the night of New Year's Eve. In Japan, similar festivals are held at Gion Shrine in Kyoto, Atago Shrine in Iwama Village, Ibaraki County, Hinokizawadake Shrine in Bando Village, Kita-gamakura-gun, Ueno, and Zuikozan Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Izumo Dakei, among others.

The "Akutai Matsuri" of the temple, Oiwasan Bishamonten, is widely known as a strange festival that started in the Keio era (late Edo period).
The festival starts at 11:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve from the Otokozakaguchi parking lot at the foot of Oiwasan Bishamonten, and people walk up the trail to the main temple of Oiwasan Bishamonten.

In Akutai Matsuri, participants climb up the mountain while saying bad words such as "Bakayaro (fool)" on the way to the Bishamonten main temple at the summit of the mountain. In this way, the participants remove all the bad luck of the year and clear away their accumulated grudges to welcome a fresh new year.

The festival will start from the Otokozakaguchi parking lot at the foot of Mount Oiwa.
At the reception desk, you will be given a wooden tag for 500 yen to write down your misfortune (misfortune, suffering, or calamity) for the year and bring it to Bishamonten at the top of the mountain. There is a place to leave the wooden tag for burning on the west side of the main temple. We will burn the wooden card to remove the bad luck.

It is forbidden to say "binbo" or "dorobo" or any other bad words with "bo" in them. Other than that, anything may be said.

There are many theories about its auspiciousness, and one of them concerns a fictional animal, the baku (tapir). In the late Edo period (1603-1868), many people died of bad luck, and people wished for the baku to ward off bad illnesses. It is said that as many people died, they asked the baku, an imaginary animal that eats nightmares, to eat their nightmares so that their prayers for the banishment of bad illnesses would be answered. It is said that the baku was first called "Baku-sama", which became "Baku-yaro" or "Baka-yaro". There is also another theory that the baku was a churlishly permitted to speak ill of farmers who were suffering from famine or other hardships that prevented them from paying tribute, but it is not certain.

At Oiwasan Bishamonten, an ema is offered for 1,000 yen to pray for the baku (tapir) to eat away misfortune and evil, and to ward off bad luck, epidemics, and evil spirits.

On the back side of the ema are the eight heavenly deities that protect each direction, in Sanskrit characters handwritten by the abbot, for good luck in ward off evil.

Although this is an ema, it can also be used as an omamori (charm) to protect you when you have to go in a bad direction by putting it in your car or other places.

The festival is also called the lantern procession, because the believers used to light up the dark mountain path with lanterns as they walked up the mountain path, swearing and swearing.
Even today, when the trail has been cleared, there are only a few streetlights. For those who wish to participate, lanterns (1,000 yen) and Bishamonten masks (500 yen) are available for purchase. Please ask at the reception desk at the Otokozakaguchi parking lot.

Prior to the festival, a loud swearing contest is held on New Year's Eve.
In this contest, participants are asked to stand on a stand and yell out their complaints for the past year, and the loudness of their voices is measured by a noise meter. The first place winner will be awarded 10,000 yen as a New Year's gift. The top 10 winners will also receive prizes. We look forward to your participation.
Registration opens at 10:00 p.m., and the event starts at 10:30 p.m. (for the first 60 participants) at the Otokozakaguchi parking lot.

Loud Swearing Contest at Akutai Matsuri held on December 31st at Oiwasan Bishamonten.

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Above is a slideshow of " Loud Swearing Contest" at Akutai Matsuri that took place on New Year's Eve, 2018.

If you wish to participate in Akutai Matsuri, please arrive at the Otokozakaguchi parking lot by 11:00 am.
Registration for the loud swearing contest will begin at 10:00 pm and the contest will start at 10:30 pm. The first 60 people to arrive will be selected, so please arrive early if you wish to participate.

From 12:00 midnight on New Year's Eve (midnight on New Year's Day), we pray for national security, family safety, business prosperity, and the fulfillment of other wishes at Oiwasan Bishamonten. On that day, the "Takinagashi-no-shiki" will be held.

Takinagashi-no-shiki held at 12:00 midnight on New Year's Eve (midnight on New Year's Day) at Oiwasan Bishamonten

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Above is a slideshow of the "Takinagashi-no-shiki" held on New Year's Day, 1991.

The Takinagashi-no-shiki is held from midnight on New Year's Day. This event is said to have started in the Kan'ei era (1624-1643) in the early Edo period.

The ritual is performed to receive the sacred sake from the forehead "like a waterfall" and drink it out of a large sake cup to ensure that the blessings and good fortune will never run out like a waterfall (Takinagashi means waterfall).

Participants sit upright in front of the image of Bishamonten, offer a large vermilion sake cup, more than 30 cm in diameter, in both hands, and place the cup over their mouths. The priest then brings a sake cup filled to the brim with sacred sake.
Sake is first poured from the top of the nose, then from the forehead to the head, gradually raising the sake cup to a higher level and pouring the sake into the cup without stopping. Finally, the sake flows like a waterfall from the top of the head to the forehead and down the nose into the red sake cup.

When enough sake has been poured, the left hand is raised. This is the "stop" signal, and the takiagashi-no-shiki is now complete.

These days, one person drinks at most 2 gou (0.36 liters). In the old days, it was common to drink about Issho (1.8 liters), and it is said that some people drank more than Nissho (3.6 liters).

If you wish to participate in the takinagashi-no-shiki, please register at the reception desk in front of the Bishamonten main temple on the right hand side after the akutai matsuri. Drivers of cars are not allowed.

You can see a video of Takinagashi-no-shiki held during the Great Goma prayer for the fulfillment of various wishes on the first day of the year at Oiwasan Bishamonten.