Overview
Saikusa matsuri takes place at Isakawa Jinja, in Nara City, Nara Prefecture. Four female shrine attendants call Miko perform an offertory dance with props made from a flower related to a lily that grows wild on Miwayama Mountain.
Because sake casks decorated with mounds of lilies are presented as offerings to the kami, this festival is also known as the yuri matsuri (Lily Festival).
Video
History
The present ritual is a Meiji period reconstruction, but the origins of the ritual are ancient and there are references to it in The Taihō Code or Code of Taihō (大宝律令 Taihō-ritsuryō) was an administrative reorganization enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period.
Religious Background
Shinto
Image
Via isagawa-jinja.jp
Via isagawa-jinja.jp
Date
June 17th
Dates and functions are subject to change without notice. Be sure to check the latest information in advance.
Location
Nara-City, Nara-Prefecture