Nagoshi no Harai - Purification Festival

You may remember that on New Year's Eve in Japan, many temples and shrines have "Joya no Kane", or a tradition where a bell is solemnly rung 108 times. This follows the Buddhist belief that man has 108 sins and that by hearing the bells toll 108 times people can undergo a purification and rid themselves of their sins and troublesome desires at the end of the year.

Now that the year is half over, we have all had time to rack up a new set of bad deeds and sins.

So, of course, there's another purification festival - Nagoshi no Harai. This festival is held sometime in the last weeks of June or first weeks of July each year. Each shrine has a slightly different schedule.

In Nagoshi no Harai, people atone for their sins in the first half of the year, and pray for their health in the reminder of the year by walking through a chinowa, a giant circular wreath made of a kind of rush called chigaya (ちがや) in Japanese.

I went with my friend Sandra to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, the shrine with the largest chinowa in Kyoto, for this festival. I'm not sure that I completely believe in the ability to be purified and to have the next six months of good health guaranteed by walking through a wreath. But, I like the idea - so I tried it.
As you can see from the diagram, there is a specific way you must walk through the chinowa. First, you walk through the wreath towards the main building in the shrine complex. Then, you walk to the left and around the outside. Next, you walk through the chinowa again, but this time you walk to the right and around the outside. Then, you pass through the wreath a third and final time, leaving by walking to the left.

Fascinating, desu ne?