Prayer and Laughter: A New Year's Event of Prayer and Laughter on Yakushima Island (Late Edo Period-Postwar Showa Period)

Prayer and Laughter: A New Year's Event of Prayer and Laughter on Yakushima Island (Late Edo Period-Postwar Showa Period)

The "Kadomawari" of Yakushima is held on the seventh day of the New Year, and is a ritual in which children go from house to house singing a festive song to bring in good fortune for the New Year. The origin of this ritual dates back to the end of the Edo period (1603-1867), and is said to be a combination of welcoming the New Year's god and the belief in a mountain god. The lyrics of the song can be found wishing for the prosperity of the family, "The customary kadomatsu, this year the pine tree at the kido prospered," and impromptu teasing was also mixed in to strengthen the laughter and bonding of the community. On the beach in front of the Mashu Shrine, the "devil's fire burning," in which bamboo and pine ornaments were burned, was integrated with the "mairi" to send the mountain deities to the mountain. Fire is a sacred symbol that connects the sea and the mountains, and it was believed that if the embers were spread over the fields, a good harvest would result. Even in
the chaotic postwar period, children continued to sing songs, and the festival was revived mainly at schools. This was also an act of prayer for the rebirth of the community. Today, the festival is reenacted as a tourist event, but for the islanders, the Kadokuri still lives on as the "starting point of society" that connects the gods and people.