. minwa 民話 folktales / densetsu 伝説 Japanese Legends .
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mugiwara hebi 麦藁蛇 / 麦わら蛇 serpent made from wheat straw
and closely related the
mugiwara ryuu 麦藁竜 dragon made from wheat straw
. mi (hebi) 巳 Snake - Zodiac Animal Amulets .
- Introduction -
. daija, orochi 大蛇 the huge serpent, great snake - Legends .
- Introduction -
- - - - - mugiware daija 麦わら大蛇 huge serpent made of wheat straw
A huge snake demon monster. He often impersonates the ike no nushi 池の主 Master of the Pond
and asks for human sacrifices. Sometimes it is a female.
Small versions are made as amulets to take home, larger one's are put on a torii or used during a Shrine festival.
. mugiwara saiku 麦わら細工 handicraft from wheat straw .
The word wara 藁 straw usually refers to rice straw in Japanese.
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- ABC - List of straw snakes / serpents from the Prefectures
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. . . . . . . . . . Chiba 千葉県
国府台 Konodai
wara no ryuu 藁の龍 a dragon from straw
At the tea stall in the park 里見公園 Satomi Koen there is a straw dragon hanging from the eaves. Around its neck is a wooden amulet. This is said to prevent fire in the house.
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. . . . . . . . . . Hiroshima 広島県
mugiware daija 麦大蛇 the huge serpent made of wheat straw
金や銀はとうとう手に入らなんだが、それよりずうっとええもんを見つけた婿さんは、それからというもの仕事に精を出し、嫁さんと一緒にいつまでも幸せに暮らしたということじゃ。
source : manga mukashibanashi
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. . . . . . . . . . Nara 奈良県
. amagoi 雨乞 praying for rain . - at Himetani Ike 姫谷池
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. . . . . . . . . . Tochigi 栃木県
mugiwara ryuu 麦藁竜 dragon from wheat straw
足利富士浅間神社 Ashikaga Fuji Sengen Jinja (Asama Jinja)
In the 足利地方 Ashikaga region along the river 渡良瀬川 Narasegawa there have often been great floodings. In the muddy water behind the shrine 下浅間神社 Shimo Sengen Jinja there appeared a dragon, climbed 浅間山 Mount Asama (Sengen yama) and then disappeared in the clouds of the sky. Soon after that the storm and rain subseded.
Since then the dragon is the messenger of the Asama deity.
Every year at the Opening of the Mountain ritual on the June 1 there is a festival at the shrine where this amulet is sold. Local farmers take it home in the hope to be protected from natural disasters.
After 1945 less and less farmers produce wheat straw and this custom almost died out. Therefore some farmers built a group to revive this custom and in 1998 they succeeded in bringing the wheat straw dragons back to the festival.
It comes in various form and decorations.
source : miyagemon-195
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. . . . . . . . . . Tokyo / Edo 東京 / 江戸
浅草 Asakusa
In mid-February farmers put up bamboo poles in the fields and hang serpents made of wheat straw on them.
They also make wara koogo わら合子 small straw containers for ritual offerings, which are woven in the pattern of a snake.
This is a kind of spell to keep the serpents away.
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浅草富士浅間神社 Asakusa Fuji Sengen Jinja
The same story of Kihachi about the straw serpent (see Hongo).
- - - - - Homepage of the Shrine
- source : www.asakusajinja.jp -
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台東区 Daito
麦藁蛇絵馬 ema votive tablet with the straw snake
. Onoterusaki jinja 小野照崎神社 .
Ono no Takamura (小野 篁. 小野篁) also known as
Sangi no Takamura 参議篁, Sangi no Takamura - (802 – 853)
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駒込 Komagome
Fuji jinja 富士神社 Fuji Shrine. 駒込富士神社
5 Chome-7-20 Honkomagome, Bunkyo, Tokyo
They were first made by a member of the local 富士講 Fujiko group, the farmer Kihachi 喜八 around 1704－11. In the autumn of one year there was an epidemy in Edo and he made this "Serpent from Fuji ふじの蛇" of about 90 cm length in the hope to protect the villagers from catching the disease. Indeed, the Cholera did not spread in his neighbourhood and from this day on, during the 富士祭 Fuji Festival from June 30 till July 1, it is sold as a precious amulet.
Now it comes in many versions.
People also make a simple straw snake and offer it at the Fuji Shrine with prayers for health in the coming year.
The local "Fujisan" in the shrine compound is only 5 meters high, Komagome no Fujisan 駒込のお富士さん. During the "mini-version of the Yamabiraki Festival to open the climbing season" 小山開き many stalls assemble in the large shrine compound.
source : popeye.sakura.ne.jp/tokyo
On the first day of the 6th lunar month, the villagers in the Edo period would also observe the first snake shedding its skin and celebrated this 衣脱の朔日 under a mulberry tree in the Shrine compound.
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Komagome Fuji Jinja Shrine (駒込富士神社)
This small Shinto shrine, founded in 1573, is a place of worship dedicated to the divinity of Mt Fuji. Until high buildings were erected all over Tokyo, and the air was cleaner, you could see Mt Fuji from Tokyo. (Even now you can see Mt Fuji from Tokyo from a high place if the air is clean.) Mt Fuji was too hard a mountain for everyone to climb in those days, and women were not allowed to climb this mountain until the Meiji Period in the first place (by the way, the divinity of Mt Fuji is a goddess), so people around Kanto built Fuji-zuka, mounds imitating Mt Fuji, to climb in their towns.
The mound in this shrine precincts is one of them, though this one was not built from scratch but said to have used existing Kofun mounds. The rocks covering the front side of this mound is brought from the foot of Mt Fuji.
From the end of June to early July, many Fuji-zuka mounds hold opening ceremonies, since this period is the beginning of the season Mt Fuji itself gets open to the public. This shrine is no exception, and from June 30 to July 2 a festival is held. After the opening ceremony, there will be stalls open until 9PM for each of the nights.
- source : visiting-japan.com -
source : yosukenaito.blog40.fc2.com
stamp with the straw serpent, from 1965
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目黒区 Meguro
Naka Meguro Hachiman Jinja 中目黒八幡神社
Fuji Jinja 富士神社
source : jinja.tokyolovers.jp
At the 八幡宮 Hachimangu shrine in Meguro there is a dragon rope made from straw wrapped around the 鳥居 torii gate. A serpent from Mount Fuji had once come down to Meguro to help prevent fire in the village.
People come here to pray in times of drought and water shortage.
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