Overview
- In Kikonai, Hokkaido, Samegawa Shrine opened its three-day Kanchu misogi on January 13 with four young participants exchanging cold-water dousing to purify and pray for abundant catches and harvests.
- The Hokkaido ritual unfolded at night in falling snow, with participants holding steady as water splashed their backs and spectators applauded.
- A day earlier in Iwaki, Fukushima, Atago Shrine held its Mizu-shugi, where four grooms were doused three times with well water to pray for household safety and the district’s prosperity.
- Responding to a shortage of successors linked to declining birthrates, Iwaki’s organizers for the first time recruited participants from outside the local district.
- Iwaki’s ceremony is an approximately 400-year-old municipal intangible folk cultural property, while Kikonai’s observance has continued for more than 190 years.