"Ozagawari" Ceremony of Tsukuba-san Shrine

"Ozagawari" is biggest ceremonies of Tsukuba-san shrine (Tsukuba city, Ibaraki pref. Japan). The ceremony is held twice a year, 1st of April and 1st of November. This ceremony is famous for its portable shrine parade which climing up and down between the main shrine building and two small shrine buildings on the summit of Mt. Tsukuba. This custom is thought as a symbol of exchanging gods' (parents and their children) living location. It is believed that parents offer comfortable places for children, cool summits in summer and warm hilside in winter.

The process of the ceremony is as follows:

• Two portable shrines starts from main shrine building at aroung eight a.m. A bigger one is carried down to a temporal building in a town in front of the shrine. A smaller one is carried up to the summit of Mt. Tsukuba with rather small parade. Recently a cable car is used.
• Ceremony is held at the shrine building on the top of Mt. Nantai (one of two peaks). Simmilar ceremony is also held on Mt. Nyotai (another peak). Clothes, which are symbols of gods, are exchanged in the ceremony.
• After eleven a.m., the smller portable shrine starts to clime down the mountain. The parade reach the temporal building before two p.m.
• Ceremony is held at the temporal building at 14:30.
• Two portable shrines, smller one and bigger one start before three p.m., and return back to main shrine building with a parade of over hundred people.
• The parade reach the main shrine building around four o'clock p.m.

Photos and sounds are taken on 11th of November, 1997, after twleve o'clock because the author arrived at there at that time.

A small parade of a smaller portable shrine going down to the temporal shrine building.

The temporal shrine building is built on the old main street of Tuskuba-san shrine. The first tori (sacred shintoism gate) is seen.

A bigger portable shrine in a parade. the parade takes many rests because the road is steep.

The 100 people parade for the portable shrines. The order of the parade is,

• Sarutahiko (Tengu): is thought as a guide of the parade.
• Taiko (a drum, 170KB u-law sound is here)
• Managers
• Sacred tree
• Gagaku music players (very old officialy ceremonial music, 170KB u-law sound is here)
• The bigger portable shrine
• Chief priest
• The smller portable shrine
• Festival portable shrine for children

The parade passes a sacred bridge. This bridge is open only twice a year when the ceremony is held.

We can also pass the bridge after the parade.

The portable shrines are pushed up into the main shrine building. Its the finale of the ceremony.

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