Usokae Ritual at Yamada Tenman-gu

January 25th (annual)
11:00-11:20 & 15:00-15:20

Yamada Tenman-gu enshrines Sugawara Michizane.
He was a distinguish politician and scholar in the Heian period.
He passed away on February 25, 903 and

Uso

People form a line and wait for the ceremony	Purification	After the purification, people get an uso in a bag. (1000yen)
Form a circle	Big circle	Enjoying the event

At first, they hold an uso with their right hand, then shift it to their left hand to the sound of drum. Then, to the next drum sound, they say "Kaemasho Kaemasho (Let's change, Let's change)"and hand it to their left, and at the same time getting one from the person on the right. They repeat this many times until the drum sound stops. Now can they change a lie to the truth....???... Maybe If you find the letter "福" on the bottom of your uso, you can exchange it for the bigger one at the shrine office. If you find "幸", you can exchange it for an uso made of 18-carat gold.

Returned old uso

Gift from the shrine	Ume (Japanese plum) Sugawara Michizane loved plum blossoms very much.

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