Burning Sacred Ropes and New Year Decorations Kunitachi City – Yaho Tenmangu Dondoyaki
Event Period:Coming of Age Day
Venue:Kunitachi City
At Yaho Tenmangu Shrine in Kunitachi City, the traditional dondoyaki ritual is held every year on Coming of Age Day. A yagura tower is erected within the shrine grounds, where sacred ropes, New Year decorations, and talismans received in the previous year are ceremonially burned. Here, we introduce this powerful dondoyaki ritual along with the long history of Yaho Tenmangu.
What Is the Dondoyaki at Yaho Tenmangu?
Similar festivals can be found throughout Japan, usually held around the time of the Little New Year. Depending on the region, they are known by various names such as Sagicho, Dosojin Festival, or Sainokami.
At Yaho Tenmangu, a yagura is set up in the shrine grounds, and local residents place their old talismans and daruma dolls onto it. After purification rites performed by Shinto priests, the structure is set alight and vigorous flames rise into the air. It is said that warming oneself by this fire helps prevent colds, and those gathered gaze up at the flames while praying for good health and well-being in the new year.
New adults who have just attended their coming-of-age ceremony also visit the shrine, while neighborhood associations pound rice cakes, filling the grounds with a festive New Year atmosphere. As the fire dies down, people can be seen grilling dumplings over the remaining embers. Tenjin is revered as the deity of learning, and the ema racks in the shrine grounds are filled with votive tablets bearing the wishes of students preparing for examinations. Even the flames of the dondoyaki seem to offer encouragement.
Enshrined Deities: Sugawara no Michizane and Sugawara no Michitake
The enshrined deities of Yaho Tenmangu are Sugawara no Michizane and his son Sugawara no Michitake. In the fourth year of the Shotai era, corresponding to 901, when Michizane was demoted and exiled to Dazaifu in Kyushu, his third son Michitake was also banished to Kurihara-go in Fube-sho, Tama District of Musashi Province, an area that is now Yaho in Kunitachi City.
In the third year of the Engi era, or 903, upon learning of his father’s death, Michitake carved an image of his father out of deep affection and enshrined it. This act is said to mark the origin of Yaho Tenmangu.
Promoted to the status of a prefectural shrine in 1885, Yaho Tenmangu is the oldest Tenmangu shrine in eastern Japan. A wide variety of annual events are held here, including the Brush Memorial Service, Setsubun Festival, Plum Blossom Festival, Summer Festival, Annual Grand Festival, Lantern Procession, and traditional Lion Dance. For centuries, it has remained an essential spiritual presence in the community. Yaho Tenmangu is also counted among the Kanto Three Tenjin, together with Yushima Tenjin and Kameido Tenjin.
| Event Period | Coming of Age Day |
|---|---|
| Address | 52093 Yaho, Kunitachi City, Tokyo |
| Website | |
| Access | About a 3-minute walk from JR Yaho Station, or about a 10-minute bus ride from JR Kunitachi Station, Keio Line Fuchu Station, or Seiseki-Sakuragaoka Station |
| Discover more about the Tama region | https://at-tama.tokyo/lang_en/ Photos courtesy of Takako Shigegaki |
