Pathway to Japanese Literature

I. The Theatricalization of Celebratory Rituals

The two long poems titled "Beggar's Chants" in Book 16 of the Man'yōshū are regarded as valuable examples demonstrating that the celebratory rituals performed by celebratory ritual performers were theatricalized at an early stage.
Although these are two poems, they describe the physical peculiarities of two creatures and sing of their lamentations; however, considering both their content and what can be inferred from the four-character title, it stands to reason that gestures would have naturally accompanied these songs.
The term utai has conventionally been read as uta (song), but precise examples of its usage show it refers to verses that ritual dancers themselves recited.

This song appears to take the form of a lament by deer and crab, but it originally stemmed from agricultural incantations used to eliminate harmful creatures. Specifically, there existed incantations that compelled deer and crabs—as representatives of field-ravaging spirits—to swear submission, accompanied by gestures and recited vows from those costumed as such creatures. I maintain that as these subsidiary performative elements developed, they gradually transformed into an entertainment form where comedic recitations paired with deft gestures could overwhelm spectators.

It remains unclear whether people or ritual dolls performed these gestures. However, while the human body constituted the core element of these incantatory performances, those assuming imitative roles varied regionally. Instances certainly involved humans, but spirit roles appearing in certain provincial or household rites might employ ritual dolls or temporary effigies with faces fashioned from mirrors or gourds. Sufficient grounds exist to affirm this much.

Upon close examination, there were aspects where celebratory ritual performers (hokahibito) differed from puppeteer clans (kugutsu). However, it was reasonable to consider that many puppeteer clans had been intermingled among these celebratory ritual performers. I cannot bring myself to believe the theory that kugutsu and kairaishi were of the same kind; yet it remained an undeniable fact that the lifestyle of the kairaishi—written with characters applied phonetically to "kugutsu"—aligned mysteriously at every turn.

The fact that women of the kugutsu people manipulated ritual dolls in performance was documented in mid-Heian period texts. While their prominence truly and suddenly became visible from the Muromachi period onward, even before then, they had been sporadically performed here and there by lower-ranking shrine people and through the hands of kugutsu. The fact that this group appeared to have originated from Nishinomiya in Hiroda, Settsu Province was presumably because their novel style had been welcomed by the capital’s people.

Looking specifically at Nishinomiya Shrine, the practice of having dolls—serving as divine substitutes for gods arriving from across the sea during each festival—perform sacred gestures came to be employed in celebrants' rituals; this appears to mark their first step from ritual art toward performance art.

II. The Hachiman Deity’s Attendant Deities

Shrines that bring out ritual dolls in festivals still exist today in various regions.
This is especially prominent in Hachiman-lineage shrines.
The Hachiman deity was, without a doubt, a newly arrived god that became prevalent during the Nara period.
I consider that it might be a god introduced through the Onmyōdō practices of Japanese Buddhists.
For example, just as Susanoo-no-mikoto is referred to as Gozu Tennō or Mutō Tenjin, the Hachiman deity also possesses significant Onmyōdō-style elements.
It could be said to be a newly arrived deity that was rationalized through Buddhist methods and syncretized.

Be that as it may, the reason this deity came to be perceived as a violent god lay not so much in the Hachiman deity’s own violent nature as in his subjugation of malevolent local deities encountered during his eastward advance from western regions, incorporating them into his retinue.
The outcome of this subjugation initially involved making them subordinates, but later came to be expressed through a father-son relationship as young shrine deities.

Thus, as faith in the Hachiman deity propagated, it came to encompass local deities across various regions.
Those deities assumed giant forms and took charge of administering Hachiman worship in their respective territories.
From the Hachiman deity’s perspective, compelling their sworn submission—even when framed as father and son—served to suppress the land’s evils.

These subordinates took the form of ritual dolls. They were represented through giant effigies. For example, entities like Otono Yagorō of Hyūga Iwagawa Hachiman came into being. And thus, this came to be invariably included in the Hachiman deity’s processions as an attendant deity. Among Japanese giant legends, there are those considered to have arisen from the impression of these processions. Evidence continues to accumulate. While anthropologists and archaeologists ensnared by rationalism unreflectively invoke indigenous peoples, one must not forget—at the very least when considering Japan’s giant legends—the profound impression left by these processions. As seen in Kyushu’s Otono Yagorō, Chūgoku’s Daitarō Hōshi, and the Heike Monogatari’s Daitara Hōshi, this impression has been legendized across nearly the entire nation. Of course, within this, the previous generation’s giant legends—such as those involving creating marshes and shouldering mountains—are also connected. It would be appropriate to view that these two elements combined to give rise to new giant legends. The identification of Daitarō Hōshi as Kōra Myōjin and the attribution of Kōra Myōjin to Takenouchi no Sukune stemmed from a misunderstanding that arose when associating the Hachiman deity with Emperor Ōjin. Nevertheless, they have incorporated at least the impression as a side-seated deity.

Even among the Hachiman deity’s attendant deities, those existing before their conception as child deities were precisely the ritual mime performers.
The attendant deities split into two groups: those that had already submitted and those still undergoing submission.
The ritual mime performers’ mockery-laden postures demonstrated that they—like legendary monsters such as Amanjaku and the Hiyottoko of village kagura—remained mid-submission.
As for the giants, they had already submitted.
Therefore, in processions, they came to serve as the vanguard.

III. Ritual Mime Performers・Seinō・Blue Farmer Dolls

Sainootoko appears to have also been pronounced as Seinō.
There are cases where it was written as "Blue Farmer" (青農).
Moreover, it was also written as 細男 and made to be read as *Seinō*.
In these instances, both terms generally referred to ritual dolls; however, Sainootoko could also denote human performers.
Heian-period ritual manuals record that during court *kagura*, following the human leader's dance and a round of sake consumption, there would be a Sainootoko performance.
This constituted a form of *sarugaku* and is thought to have involved comedic mimicry.
The use of *tai* (態) indicates that technical skills and gestures were enacted through physical movements.

The abbreviated form of this *tai* (態) was *nō* (能).
The Nō forms called Dengaku Nō and Sarugaku Nō—gesture-based Kyōgen Nō—originated from this development.
However, the fact that the *Sainootoko* appearing in court Kagura were human stemmed from people imitating gestures originally performed by effigies.
Fundamentally, the Kagura songs transmitted today belong to the Iwashimizu lineage.
In this school’s Kagura, Sainootoko simultaneously functioned as Seinō (Blue Farmer dolls), through which ritual dolls presumably performed Sarugaku.
Therefore, I maintain that Sainootoko fundamentally existed as ritual dolls, with their manifestation as human performers in court Kagura representing a subsequent transformation.

The Sainootoko appearing in Kagura performing Sarugaku-style mimicry could be viewed as a secondary performance that concretized divine intimations.
This originally arose from Sainootoko serving as spirit embodiments while a separate deity existed in opposition; it would be reasonable to interpret that their performative dynamic—whereby the deity would act and Sainootoko would counter in a supporting manner—formed through such antagonistic enactments.
However, the conceptualizations of deities and spirits perpetually underwent transformation.
For example, at the Chikuzen Shika Island festival deeply associated with Usa Hachiman, there existed a ritual where participants loaded ritual dolls onto a boat, rowed it offshore, and from aboard the vessel, had the dolls preside over the seabed.
As these welcoming dolls served to involve sea spirits in the festival, while originally it had been the principle that the seabed deity constituted the spirits, in this case, it was the welcoming dolls that assumed the position of spirits.
However, upon further consideration, what were called seafloor spirits were in fact once authoritative gods that had come from the other world.
Moreover, such things had conversely been carried out.
When compared to Usa Hachiman, Shika Island’s seabed deity came to be considered a great among spirits.

From this point came consideration of Adome Isoara—later conceptualized as human and also called Isoara-maru.
Isoara is said to have been a deity of the sea people who ruled the seabed.
Among elements related to this name exists "Isoara-mae" in Kagura songs.
The lyrics state "Isejima ya ama no tonera ga takuho no kei sora ga saki ni et cetera"—when viewed in isolation through this song alone, it appears unrelated to Adome Isoara; yet there was undoubtedly an original connection.

The Achime ritual protocol appearing at Kagura's beginning—marked by *"Achimeeeee Oooo"*—as one might imagine from the renowned legend preserved in the Taiheiki, works such that *"Achimeeeee"* summons Isoara while *"Oooo"* constitutes Isoara's response.
This may have been performed through an oppositional dynamic akin to that between the human leader and Sainootoko.
In any case, through Isoara's manifestation appears preserved only the primordial memory of this ritual's inception.
The original intent had continued repeating this even after layers of forgetfulness.
Though some theories identify Achime as Uzume, Achime and Adome must be none other than the Azumi Clan—the sea people's leaders.
Through this becomes clear the meaning behind the legend stating Isoara was the seabed-ruling deity of the sea people.

In my analytical framework—which posits that veneration of sea deities transitioned to mountain deities—even if Isoara’s worship incorporates notions of mountain giants (*yama no ue*), it must fundamentally be regarded as preserving ancient origins.

IV. Puppeteer Clans and Ritual Dolls

The manifold aspects of folk beliefs and folk arts were not easily simplified.
However, if one were to tentatively conceptualize a simplified form, Sainootoko could be viewed as belonging to maritime lineages while Otono derived from mountain lineages.
Yet these two must fundamentally have originated from a single conceptual source.

The descendants of these Sainootoko ritual mime performers split into two branches: one passed into the hands of puppeteer clans and through *tekugutsu* gradually transformed into wooden puppets.
The abbreviation of *tekugutsu* dolls likely became *deku* dolls.
The other lineage merged early with Otono to become *Seinō* and Blue Farmer dolls at grand shrines.

Among the Seinō-side Sainootoko ritual mime performers, some—like those at Rikyū Hachiman—had movable hands, but most became idols; when viewed in form, they were paraded at the forefront of festival processions just like hitotsu mono dolls.

Within hitotsu mono (ritual objects), there existed two varieties: ritual dolls and human beings.
According to conventional theories, since this belonged to the corpse-child lineage, it had been considered to fundamentally involve human beings; however, given the numerous forms employing ritual dolls, it appeared impossible to definitively determine which came first.

The appearance of welcoming dolls in Shika Island’s festival could be viewed as a commemoration of how the sea people’s traditions became intertwined with faith in the Hachiman deity.
The sea people had also deeply valued ritual dolls.
This continuity extended through the puppeteer clans’ ritual doll dances and Ebisu-kaki performances.

The relationship between puppeteer clans and ritual dolls contained such a void in its middle period that one could only attempt to connect materials from the mid-Heian period onward with those of the far later post-Sengoku era—leaving no alternative but to forcibly juxtapose these temporally distant sources.
However, one could not assert—as conventional theories did—that puppet theater had been initiated by performers from Nishinomiya and Awaji.
To bridge this gap, there indeed existed an entity called Hyakudayū—rendered in Chinese-style writing as Hyakushin (Hundred Deities).

The ritual dolls carried by these people were likely originally small enough to be stored within traveling equipment and transported, I believe.
The sacred container that held such spiritual objects was likely what was called the kugutsu-ko woven from sedge grass.
When considered this way, the etymology of this word also became discernible.
Could kugutsu have been an apocope of kugutsuko or kugutsuto?
Just as the portable containers carried by hokahibito—ritual performers considered successors to mountain deities—were sacred hokai, so too the sacred bags held by sea deities were kugutsuko, and what resided within them must have been spiritual kugutsu dolls.
Whether tekugutsu dolls—originally in the form of deku or deko—were meant to be manipulated by hands or were simply dolls possessing hands was, I believe, a crucial point requiring attention when studying the history of Japanese ritual dolls.
So to speak, it was a single matter—and yet.

V. Awaji, Nishinomiya, and Ritual Dolls

I would like to consider the relationship between Awaji Island and ritual dolls as follows.
I think that shrine priests of Nishinomiya residing on Awaji Island participating in Nishinomiya’s festivals was akin to how, in ancient villages, there existed a divine island offshore from the coast, from which deities would come forth.
And presumably, instead of people becoming gods, there emerged gods in the form of ritual dolls and those who wielded them.
This long-standing custom presumably culminated in far later ages with the creation of a puppet troupe spanning Nishinomiya and Awaji.
Moreover, I believe these facts—on one hand—were also practiced among the puppeteer clans who had semi-settled since early times in the downstream areas of the Yodo and Kanzaki Rivers, while simultaneously giving rise to the puppet-based ritual magic of the Kaima women in the Nishinomiya-Saisei region.

A kyōgen kouta comic song states: "Far offshore there lies a stone - Ebisu-sama's resting stone - meaning that Ebisu-sama's stone seat exists out at sea." Judging from this comic song, it appears the Ebisu deity came from the sea and had a temporary resting place before coming ashore. Therefore, when examining ancient forms, it was not the Ebisu deity that took the form of a ritual doll, but rather those sent to welcome him that were ritual dolls. This transformed into the ritual dolls of Ebisu-kaki (Ebisu raking) and Ebisu-mawashi (Ebisu procession).

Mr. Yoshii Tarō of Nishinomiya - my friend who should have long noted such points - if it may still prove useful as reference, I wish to address why Hyakudayū Shrine attaches to Ebisu Shrine. This is, in modern terms, where welcoming dolls for the Ebisu deity reside; furthermore, viewing from shrine architecture's layout, they occupy positions as Right Minister and Left Minister relative to the main deity. Therefore, restoring this to ancient form must equate to Otono deities attaching to and protecting the main deity's shrine grounds. I will clarify here that the Ebisu deity himself was not a ritual doll. This explanation aligns perfectly with Nishinomiya Shrine's current circumstances, proving quite convenient.

The ritual dolls manipulated by the puppeteer clans were the very deities they served.
They occupied the position of spirits relative to main deities such as the Hachiman deity.
At the very least, according to the ancient logic of our country, when one tribe submitted to another, it meant they submitted alongside the gods their ancestors served; when translated and rephrased in historical terms, this became equivalent to having been subjugated since the time of their ancestral gods.
Therefore, even if they were conquered and submitted, there was no need to abandon their faith as well.
Even if they were of the slave class, they did not have to accept the faith of the ruling class as it was.
The fact that the deities and buddhas worshipped between temples and their slaves, shrines and their slaves, as well as powerful clans and their subjects remained separate entities was due to these prolonged historical reasons.

Because the puppeteer clans were part of the sea people, the gods worshipped by the sea people were positioned as spirits relative to the main Hachiman deity after their submission; nevertheless, they continued serving their ancestral deities. This was the Hyakudayū served by the puppeteer clans.

What requires clarification is that Hyakudayū or the Sainootoko ritual mime performers had originally been welcoming dolls, but eventually merged with the deities they were meant to welcome, becoming a single entity that assumed a subordinate relationship to a new main deity. In this sense, this doll had fully become the deity of the puppeteer clans.

Viewed through this lens, the welcoming dolls appearing in shrine festivals—descendants of greeting doll lineages—represented transformed spirits that welcomed deities attending rituals while pledging submission; yet conversely, these very dolls also became manifestations of the deities themselves descending upon ceremonial grounds.
The same principle applied to insect-repelling dolls.
Or indeed to Doll Festival ritual dolls.

VI. Insect-Repelling Dolls

Insect-repelling dolls were mostly made by bundling grass-family plants, hence being straw dolls; even in these, attention was given to the hands while the legs went unmentioned.
The legs were merely extensions of the torso.
These hands may have evolved into ones capable of dual movement like those of the Blue Farmer dolls at Rikyū Hachiman, but most remained fixed in an outstretched position.
This took the form of stake-bound figures, sharing commonality with crucifixion rites in ancient beliefs.
Judging from records such as those appearing in the Yūryaku Chronicles—where Ikezu Hime of Baekje and her male counterpart were bound to stakes atop a temporary scaffold (a structure akin to later-era watchtowers) for the crime of adultery—being punished for sin simultaneously meant becoming divine property, thereby entering into the concept of submitting to the gods.
This extended into the concept that during calamities, those bearing heavenly sins (Amatsu-tsumi) or earthly sins (Kunitsu-tsumi) would be selected as representatives to be ritually offered to the gods—thereby establishing such sinners, or effigies in their likeness, as ceremonial focal points that formally occupied leading positions in some rituals.
What was positioned before these hands was Otono Yagorō.
The form of dolls that fell into a secondary role came to be gradually narrativized and associated with entities such as the Amano Shyakuguma and Okiku-mushi pupae of rice borers infesting rice plants.
Therefore, even in the case of Otono Yagorō, we must not forget that there lay the significance of being bound by the gods and working in their service.

It was intriguing that insect-repelling dolls served as send-off counterparts to welcoming dolls.
However, whether these were dolls being dispatched or dolls performing the dispatching—or at times, whether they represented deities or spirits—had become indistinguishable.
The lady doll crucified on the mountain at Mikawa Tamamine's village border—which Mr. Hayakawa Kotarō and I observed—appeared akin to a deity being ritually sent off; yet in truth, it seemed to serve dual roles as both the dispatched spirit executing the sending and the priestess conducting it.
Thus, they presumably referred to it using the term "lady" (okata), denoting a household matriarch or female head (tōji).
In my view, according to Japan's ancient beliefs, those arriving from beyond were great deities while spirits remained bound to the land; thus dispatching spirits elsewhere proved fundamentally impossible.
Therefore, they likely attributed all calamities to deities arriving from external realms and conceived them accordingly.

The insect-repelling dolls may have appeared akin to malevolent spirits, yet simultaneously served as a main deity that shouldered all malevolence and departed to distant lands.
It appears this send-off doll was believed to later transform into a living creature.
Kappa, too, were transformations of straw dolls.
It was no wonder straw dolls were believed to become rice pests.

VII. Straw-Stalk Doll Beliefs

In our country’s legends, the occurrence of rice pests was explained as being caused by the transformation of people who had died unnatural deaths, at the very least.
Among these, the most frequently discussed explanations were those attributed to Saitō Sanemori; however, what was considered this phenomenon’s major cause likely emerged from narratives told by biwa monks for warding off malevolence.
I believe that by likening [the expulsion] to the strength of the protagonist in these narratives, there had originally existed an ideology of repulsion.
In Kōwaka performances, where war chronicles were popular, there appears to have been a concept that narrating heroic tales resembling those of the vengeful spirit haunting a household would cause said spirit—believing itself equated with the hero—to withdraw.

Additionally, one must consider that the form of Sanaburi dolls—shaped as rice paddy spirits or priestesses (created by bundling rice seedlings)—was also modeled during insect-repelling rituals. Since villagers enshrined them as field deities in advance, when crop pests emerged, they had the dolls shoulder the burden and expel them. However, this idea did not represent—at least—the orthodox understanding of send-off dolls; rather, one must instead trace back to the origin of the notion that those killed while harboring grudges became rice pests. What emerged there was the insect-repelling Straw-Stalk Doll. At the very least, in Japan’s beliefs, the first straw-stalk doll was considered to be Susanoo-no-mikoto. When he was expelled from Takamagahara and stripped completely naked, he was said to have adorned himself with bundles of green grass along the way. Since ancient times, this green grass had maintained an inseparable relationship with the body, indeed taking the form of a straw raincoat. But originally, it was the skin itself.

To elaborate further, the term "mino" (straw raincoat) is a contraction of "mino-shiro"—meaning "body substitute"—whereas "mino-shiro-goromo" (substitute garment) came into use later.
It became the body substitute deity, and in written form came to be called the substitute garment.

In our country, the relationship between straw dolls and malevolence has been spoken of since nearly the earliest legends.
The relationship between straw dolls and vengeful spirits was not something suddenly conceived in modern times.

Speaking of examples from the early modern period, Yanbe Seibei of the Uwajima Disturbance was killed inside a mosquito net during rice planting.
In this tale, the immobility of limbs leaves a strong impression.
Furthermore, it is said that Sakura Sōgorō also died and became a rice pest.
Starting from that event, something resembling historical fact has been conceived that led to Sōgo’s spirit being enshrined.

Even more curious was that on Iki Island, three criminals including Kumajiemon had been executed—an indisputable fact from just before the Meiji period, not some legend—yet even here, stories persisted of them transforming into rice pests.

In rural life, rice pests—alongside other agricultural calamities—were invariably linked to resentment or punishment.
Thus, while righteous figures like Sakura Sōgorō were contemplated, even villains such as Kumajiemon could become rice pests upon death.
From this too, one had to recognize that tales of rice pests were inextricably bound to the faith surrounding straw-stalk send-off dolls.

VIII. The Doll Festival and the Awashima Legend

Mokuami’s play “Matsutake Ume Yushima Kakegaku”
In the Komagome Kichijōji Temple scene on March 3rd, there is a passage where Oshichi envies the imperial court dolls, stating that the male [doll] is Sumiyoshi-sama and the female [doll] is Awashima-sama.
Why was Awashima-sama connected to the Doll Festival?
The custom of women from various villages visiting Awashima-dō on March 3rd persisted until very recently in some regions.
I too witnessed this during my travels around the Miura Peninsula years ago—at Awashima-dō in Fukaya along the route from Hayama to Misaki, I saw village women visiting in great numbers.
Regarding this origin story, it is recounted as follows.

Long ago, there was a consort of Sumiyoshi Myōjin named Awashima.
When she developed white blood and chronic bleeding disorders, Sumiyoshi Myōjin grew displeased and cast her adrift at sea upon one panel of the shrine's gate.
The plank boat washed ashore on Awashima Island in Kada, Kii Province.
The villagers enshrined this [manifestation] as Awashima Myōjin of Kada.
Having endured misfortune due to her own women's ailments, Awashima-sama established a sacred vow for unfortunate women and became the deity of women's healing.
During the Edo period, Awashima gannin—itinerant priest-beggars—traveled widely promoting this faith, receiving clothing offerings from women and collecting hairpieces along with other ritually impure objects.
Many Awashima-dō shrines throughout the regions trace their foundations to these very priest-beggars.

Famous sites for Awashima-sama include, besides Kada, Awashima in Hōki and Awashima in Hirado, Kyushu.
The enshrined deity is established as Sukunahikona-no-mikoto.
In the legends of Hōki in particular, it is established that this deity was propelled by a millet stalk and journeyed from Tokoyo-no-kuni.
Among national scholars as well, there are those who steadfastly maintain the theory that Awashima is Sukunahikona; however, this conflation of the two likely stems from Sukunahikona-no-mikoto being a deity of medicine and the association with being propelled by millet (*awa*).
Beyond Sukunahikona-no-mikoto, the existence of the Awashima deity can be easily discerned by consulting the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki.
Like the consort of Sumiyoshi Myōjin, she too was cast adrift at sea.

In other words, within Japanese faith there existed numerous gods who were cast adrift. They drifted ashore and were enshrined. There were small gods that came from even more distant places. This was raised by a girl’s hands and later became spouses with that girl. The case of Ugayafukiaezu-no-mikoto being raised by his aunt Tamayorihime and later entering into matrimony with her constituted another example of this.

The Awashima legend represented this very transformation. In this could be perceived the lingering customs of Shangsi purification flowing beneath the surface. The Shangsi Festival was not so much a traditional Japanese event as it was a day imbued with significance within Chinese belief. In ancient times, on the first Snake Day of the third month, people would go to the water's edge to perform purification rituals and hold celebratory banquets. This became formalized as the Kyokusui-no-Utage (Curved Water Banquet). According to common accounts, after the Wei dynasty they ceased using Shangsi and adopted the third day instead, yet it is said the name continued to be called Shangsi.

The same example can be found in Tango no Sekku.
Tango means the first Horse day.
This ritual had been introduced by early Chinese naturalized immigrants.
As their naturalization often involved entire villages immigrating collectively rather than individuals, they presumably practiced their homeland's customs, habits, and beliefs without restraint.
At that time too, there were many people fond of fashionable trends.
It would have been unthinkable for them not to emulate this.

IX. Girls’ Seclusion

Of course, Japan too had since ancient times a belief that on March 3rd, women would leave their homes to live in seclusion.
On May 5th, men would depart their homes, leaving only women remaining in the house.
In the Nagoya area even today, the period from the night of May 4th to May 5th was referred to as “Women’s Dominion.”
Chikamatsu’s *The Woman-Killer and the Hell of Oil*
The middle volume contained the line “The night of May Fifth is called the house of women, you know,” which referred to this practice.
In any case, on March 3rd, women would seclude themselves in fields and mountains, living a life consisting solely of women.
This seclusion served for women to establish their qualifications to serve in Shinto rituals; when this seclusion concluded, the women would return having obtained sacred qualifications.
This qualification continued until the festival concluded.
Thereby, they became the village’s communal shrine maidens and wielded religious authority.

Women's ritual seclusion occurred on several other occasions as well.
Long-term ritual seclusion constituted that very practice for obtaining *saotome* qualifications.
In addition, there was also the eighth day of the fourth month.
It also existed on Tanabata, and this later came to be called Bon-gama following Obon.
The girls' practice had transformed into recreational gatherings where they congregated with lunch boxes; however, that this remained a vestige of ritual seclusion in detached huts could still be easily inferred from the very name Bon-gama.
Next was the first day of August; even in the Edo period, the courtesans of Yoshiwara would don white garments, calling it Hassaku robe-changing.
The vestiges of ancient ritual seclusion life persisted in such forms.
In addition, September 9th was also such a day.

In essence, all these forms of ritual seclusion served to enable girls to obtain sacred qualifications for hosting deities; it seemed most accurate to view the March Doll Festival as originating from the custom of temporarily housing ritual substitutes for these hosted deities within homes.

And thus, the foundational practice of ritual seclusion in fields and mountains transformed into field recreation involving picking milkvetch and young greens during their outings.

In Sōshū Atsuki—present-day Atsugi—there existed until the Edo period a custom where on March 3rd, girls would bring old dolls to the riverbank, exchange farewell cups of white sake with tearful lamentations, then float them downriver two by two on straw rafts.

Furthermore, in Tōgane of Kazusa, even today they call this day “the day of field outings,” where girls climb hills and face the river, repeating: “May you return next year! How we’ll long for you!”

In Buson’s poem there is one that says: “Could one forget the faces emerging from the box—two pairs of hina dolls.”
The meaning of “two pairs of hina dolls” eludes precise interpretation, but in any case, this poem conveys how hina dolls had become semi-permanent fixtures, their faces emerging from storage boxes leaving indelible impressions.
However, as discernible from the two preceding examples, people in former times would cast them into water once festivals concluded.
In more ancient practices, they would simply utter: “Oh how we’ll miss you!”
Having completed their ritual seclusion, the girls would send off the deities they had hosted through their sacred maiden status after the festival’s culmination.
This appears to have constituted the archaic form of the Doll Festival.

X. The Confluence of Deity Send-Off and Purification

At this juncture, I wish to examine what exactly *hina* dolls are.
In the capital, there exist documents from the mid-Heian period where these had already taken doll form.
When examining works such as *The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu* and *The Pillow Book*, we find records of *hīna* being enshrined in miniature palaces.
What later came to be called "*hīna* palaces" were apparently termed "*hīna* houses" in earlier times.

Regarding the etymology of *hina*, we have not yet grasped anything definitive, but this much can be stated. When they said *hīna*, was this not a case of doubling syllables to represent long vowels in an era before the invention of the prolonged sound mark—just as they said *hahaki* for brooms and *fufuki* for butterburs? *Hina* refers to a model—might it not have been a model of the household or master’s life?

And I believe that floating this in rivers became connected to the fact that Shangsi was a day of purification. That is, they conceived of creating a model of the household, having it bear impurities and floating them away. Moreover, the concept of sending off deities was also blended into this. In other words, the act of washing away impurities and the act of sending off deities became intertwined.

According to conventional scholarly explanations, it has come to be said that the Hinamatsuri dolls originated from paper dolls meant to bear impurities and be floated away in water—yet instead of being cast off, they became playthings for children and women.
Dolls that transfer impurities are those called by names such as nademono, katashiro, and amagatsu.
This stems from the idea of having another entity act as a substitute.
Alternatively, it may be considered that Taoist influences have also entered into this.

In Japan, there appears to have existed since ancient times the concept of placing dolls such as amagatsu and otogi-bōko nearby to have them absorb impurities and misfortunes.
Regions where ritual dolls are feared still exist today.
I believe that both emotions—reverence and fear of ritual defilement—still remain.
Therefore, it can be inferred that a considerable span of years passed before these came to be treated as mere playthings.
It seems plausible that the custom of playing with dolls traces its origins to these idols placed beside one’s seat or bedside.
However, claims that this constitutes the origin of dolls and that Hinamatsuri also arose from it still lack substantiation.

In essence, it is best to view that the ritual dolls of March and May emerged as replacements for the original conception through temporarily enshrining divine substitutes meant for floating away during deity send-off rituals.
The Five Seasonal Festivals were all established to avoid malevolent forces that exploit seasonal transitions to harm people; while originating from Chinese folk traditions, this concept had equally existed in Japan.
As previously discussed, customs of girls undergoing ritual seclusion during this season to obtain qualifications for welcoming deities had existed; however, considering how Chōyō was termed “later Hina,” regions maintaining worship practices during Tanabata, and observances like Hassaku Himemae persisting in northern Kyushu, it becomes incontrovertibly clear that traditions of welcoming and sending off deities during this season indeed prevailed.

Welcoming deities and performing purification differed in form, but in warding off malevolence, they were one.
In other words, the Doll Festival emerged from the combination of floating ritual substitutes to send off welcomed deities and floating substitutes that bore purification impurities.
Thus, creating a hīna house representing a model household, transferring impurities to it, and floating it away constituted the ancient form; however, I believe people eventually came to spend money on these dolls and ceased floating them away.
First, let us lay out this sequence of reasoning.

XI. The Doll in the Box

In connection with the Doll Festival, what must be considered without fail is the chigibitsu.
Even today, this is brought out to the doll platform; however, in the past, they would fill this with Doll Festival dishes and distribute them to wet nurses who had raised them.
As to why this was brought out during the Doll Festival—I believe there was a reason for this.

One conjecture posits that the relationship between this chigibitsu and the true nature of hina dolls was likely profoundly intimate. If I may put it thus, hina dolls were entities inseparable from the chigibitsu. During the Doll Festival, this container necessarily had to be presented. We may reasonably conclude that originally, hina dolls were contained within chigibitsu. Gradually mounting evidence supports this view. For instance, examination of the kugutsu puppeteer clans' ritual implements makes this clear.

Within certain ritual vessels, deities were enshrined, to be taken out when ritual necessity arose. I maintain that such practices find parallels across various cultural phenomena. This spiritual object could be perceived through two aspects: as an entity possessing divine power when kept contained, and as a manifestation requiring extraction to perform mystical actions. Several examples exist of deities being housed within travel implements or sacred boxes that developed from such tools. The further evolved form of this practice manifested in the boxes hung around the chests of kugutsu puppeteer clans. Essentially, both the kugutsu tools carried by sea deity ritual performers and the tahokai implements borne by mountain deity ritual performers were seen as sharing this same fundamental nature.

In Ishimine in Shuri on Okinawa Main Island, there existed a hamlet called Gyōja Village where individuals referred to as nenbutsu practitioners resided; this household preserved artifacts containing profound implications for considering the history of later doll manipulators and kugutsu puppeteer clans in mainland Japan.
In Taishō 10 (1921), the year after I visited this village, Mr. Miyara Tōsō visited it again.
He brought back such detailed records of this account that they could well be entrusted to Roben Sosho.
To relate my actual impressions when I first visited this village: while there appeared to have been nenbutsu practitioners dispersed throughout Okinawa beyond Ishimine, those of this village seemingly made annual circuits around all of Okinawa each spring.
They hung boxes with open fronts around their necks and made small dolls dance inside them.
What should be noted is that they called this box 'teraa'.
In Okinawa, aside from shrines where Japanese deities were enshrined as invited deities, all others—whether small shrines or worship halls—were uniformly called 'teraa', which was why the Amida Hall at Gyōja Village’s entrance was likewise called 'teraa'.
Therefore, the box hung around the ascetic’s neck was, in essence, a shrine and a hall.
Given that they made dolls dance within it, this practice had to be understood as something that was considered to hold significance beyond mere performance art.

However, as far as we could ascertain, the puppet plays they performed showed no apparent connection to religious dramas. These performances primarily featured Japanese youths called Kyōtarō as protagonists. In Okinawa, clear evidence indicated that people regarded this Kyōtarō doll and its manipulator as a unified entity. While oral tradition described Kyōtarō as a stepmother-stepchild pair drifting from mainland Japan, I maintain they actually possessed political motives—having come to survey Okinawan territory prior to Satsuma's invasion. This perception of Gyōja Village as an outcast community allegedly stemmed from resentment over betraying the country.

XII. Nenbutsu Practitioners and Doll Performances

The play known as Kyōtarō undoubtedly originated from otogi-zōshi—moralistic illustrated tales—of mainland Japan.
Given that these works were ranked alongside Shirara, Ochikubo, and Kyotaro, this was likely a stepmother-stepchild narrative.
Stories of stepmothers and stepchildren had existed since the Heian period, but narratives specifically tormenting boys appeared to date from the Kamakura era.
Disciples of nenbutsu practitioners carried this story while manipulating dolls during a considerably early period—before Satsuma's invasion of Ryukyu.
As this gained popularity, doll performances came to be called Kyōtarō long afterward.
When examining their preserved songs, one finds many from the nenbutsu lineage—or rather, kudoki-style lamentations.
Beyond these existed celebratory songs resembling *manzai* performances, along with what might be termed degraded forms of *manzai*.
One must inevitably conclude these were traditions carried by nenbutsu practitioners.

The complexities surrounding nenbutsu practitioners defy full explication, but it is reasonable to conclude that comedic elements emerged from this tradition. Mibu Kyōgen mime theater also emerged from this. Furthermore, although even close friends do not acknowledge it, the fact that this has merged with Dengaku is proven. When examining genres such as Kiyari work songs and Ise Ondo folk dances, the influence of nenbutsu practices can readily be discerned. Whether observing Mansaku dances or Yotsutake dances, one cannot help but conclude they represent offshoots of nenbutsu practices. In any case, the extent to which nenbutsu practices influenced early modern performing arts lies beyond imagination's very capacity. Given that Okinawan nenbutsu practitioners possess only puppet theater, one cannot say there is no relationship between these two. When examining the songs of these nenbutsu practitioners, beyond Kyōtarō there still exist stepmother lineage elements. There is ample evidence that they expounded upon children who suffered miserably under stepmothers, attempting to lead them to embrace Buddhism. Such boxes in which dolls are manipulated are halls and shrines—in other words, teraa (meaning sacred spaces).

From this fact, I consider that in our country as well, various religious figures—including shrine and temple attendants—traveled through various regions to propagate their respective religions while simultaneously placing small dolls inside boxes and making them dance. The question is whether they extended hands out from inside the box or made them dance within it. While written records may suggest that they extended hands out from boxes and that this practice developed accordingly, when observing what these practitioners possess—given that the box interiors constituted a religious realm—I believe it cannot be asserted that they did not make them dance within them. Even in the old Jōruri Sekkyō puppet theater performances, they did not rely solely on handrails. A water-pulling curtain is positioned above it. The space between this water-pulling curtain and the handrail constitutes the dolls' world—a realm that likely preserves vestiges of the box. There are some that do not have the water-pulling curtain written, but those likely do not follow proper form.

It appears that such puppeteers traveled throughout the country singing songs more didactic than religious in nature while manipulating their dolls.
Ultimately, one cannot depend on written records alone.
This is precisely why we dedicate ourselves to gathering folk traditions.

XIII. Ohira-sama and the Priestesses of Kumano Shinmei

In discussing boxes that carry dolls as divine spirits, I wish to address yet another aspect.
I imagine that within this essay collection, this has likely been the central focus of your interest; however, it concerns the Oshira deity of Ōshū.
According to what I have read in Professor Kindaichi Kyōsuke’s paper, "Oshira" should correctly be called "Ohira."
It is explained that "Oshira" constitutes a direct transcription of dialect.
As for this so-called Ohira-sama—when did it reach Ōshū? I consider this something likely beyond anyone’s capacity for definitive assertion, though at least this much may be stated.
Whether such forms originally existed in the Eastern regions, whether an ancient belief migrating from Kansai in antiquity took root there, or whether it represents a fusion of both—ultimately matters appear to settle upon just this conclusion.

I held responses to each of those theories.

Beginning with what seemed most accessible to anyone, I considered that what was called Ohira-sama likely constituted a type of sacred object carried by priestesses of Kumano Shinmei.

Kumano Shinmei refers not to the Ise Grand Shrine but rather to a form of sun deity worshipped in Kishū.

That is to say, these proselytizers carried other attendant deities alongside Shinmei during their travels.

A definitive example is Asakusa Sansha Gongen.
The Three Shrines refer to three deities that were attached to Kumano Shinmei—which serves as the original form of Asakusa Kannon—as its attendant gods, being three divine entities related to Nichinomiya Shrine.
Later, they came to be mythologized as three brothers who discovered Asakusa Kannon.

What was called Ohira-sama was not Kumano Shinmei itself but rather one of Shinmei's attendant deities—a spirit directly connected to priestesses who traveled propagating Shinmei worship (from Shinmei's perspective)—it is believed. Beyond Shinmei, there existed what might be termed Shinmei's emissaries. That constituted the Ohira deity.

Regarding the term Ohira-sama, I had long considered it to derive from a sound change in hina. Yet why would they impose the name "hina" even upon dolls fashioned from mulberry wood? When it comes to that point, we who remain ignorant of hina's etymology have no means of explanation. However, we can at least posit that while these dolls lacked not only legs but hands too, having priestesses manipulate them—make them dance—constituted an essential condition. From this perspective alone, advancing an argument becomes possible. Examining what Mr. Nikorai Nefusukii collected in Iwakidaira as Ohira-sama's ritual texts allows us to infer that during a certain period, simple plays developed into relatively complete forms in the Kansai region and were performed as prerequisites for doll performances. This amounts to the story of Ohira-sama's previous existence—what might be termed a honji narrative—having accompanied it.

XIV. Ohira-sama and the Ōmiya Mie Festival

Today, the distribution of Ohira-sama was not necessarily limited to Tōhoku alone. From materials collected over more than a decade, traces could be discerned of how faith in attendant deities accompanying Shinmei worship had been propagated eastward from the capital region in former times. However, by the time Ohira-sama came to attention, the custom of priestesses carrying them in boxes while traveling had already been lost. Therefore, while associating this with the format of traveling puppet theater performances might appear difficult, I believe there had indeed been such a period before the practice became fixed as that of a silkworm guardian deity in later eras.

However, this too was not impossible to consider conversely—that Ohira-sama might have possessed a seed that took root in the Eastern Provinces itself. In this regard, one recalls the imperial court's "Ōmiya Mie Festival." This undoubtedly reflected Eastern Provinces style and likely bore deep connections to the Kasama Shrine in Hitachi.

The festival's centerpiece was a single ceremonial canopy. Various objects hung from it, but at its core lay a pair of dolls shaped as male and female figures. Though the canopy was presumably washed away in water after the festival concluded, might there not exist some relationship between these dolls and Ohira-sama—and by extension, hina dolls? Yet even this could not be said to pertain solely to Eastern Provinces style, for everywhere existed customs of crafting paired male-female dolls—it may be that we merely observe how the Ōmiya Mie Festival retained an especially vivid impression. In studying hina dolls, I believe dissecting this material proves crucial. Nor could one dismiss the possibility that such Eastern customs later intertwined with Shinmei doll dances migrating westward.

Furthermore, what I wish to consider regarding Ohira-sama is whether this should be regarded as having a male-female pair as its principal form. In my view, Ohira-sama becomes complete only when both the female doll and the male doll shaped like a horse are present together; it is believed that forms where only one was occasionally used also emerged.

XV. Ohira-sama’s True Identity

When examining only the Ohira-sama remaining in Tōhoku today, one cannot definitively assert that their essential form constitutes a married couple. However, there were instances where female forms were paired with male figures—those crowned with horse heads or shaped as entire horses. Some regions regarded this as Ohira-sama's ordinary form. Through examination of ritual texts concerning Ohira-sama's origins, there can be no doubt that such paired forms were adopted as a fundamental principle. They had the two perform while reciting ritual texts. Thus even when separating just the horse head or female form alone, practitioners could still consider it Ohira-sama. Examples like the illustrated Ohira-sama from museum collections show the horse-headed silkworm deity disappearing, nearly approaching ordinary standing hina doll forms. Comparing these with illustrated Mikawa-bina and Satsuma-bina reveals seemingly vast formal differences—yet while the latter were clearly objects roughly covered with paper or cloth fragments, shared formal elements with the former become apparent. From this perspective, these objects must have been discarded annually as ritual observances. Might a form of Ohira-sama demonstrating restoration through annual re-covering with new cloth—rather than discarding—have thereby emerged? We can consider that alongside discarded Ohira-sama, those powerful Ohira-sama constantly preserved by Shinmei priestesses came to be exclusively revered as true Ohira-sama. These Ohira-sama must have transformed their forms as priestesses' modes of faith changed—for instance, when Kumano priestesses inclined toward Buddhist practices, they likely began using Buddhist statues instead of manipulable dolls. The Oshira-sama shown in the illustration—from Yoshida Kaneyoshi’s collection in Imai, Kasumi Village, Nishitama District, Musashi Province—being a Buddhist statue combining equine and feminine elements, was likely regarded as containing Ohira-sama's essence, leading certain priestess groups to practice devotion toward it.

Musashi Nishitama’s Ohira-sama

Photography: Mr. Murakami Shizufumi

Ohira-sama (Imperial Household Museum Collection)

Sketch by Mr. Odauchi Michihisa

Satsuma-bina (Imperial Household Museum Collection)

Mikawa-bina (Imperial Household Museum Collection)

I previously stated that what are called *hina* houses are models of certain houses, and here too, I wish to reiterate this point.
The *hina* house served both as palaces/temples of *hina* and as models of houses belonging to those who should be blessed or represented by *hina*.
Tracing back through history, it was one container for *hina*.
So to speak, I believe they gradually developed from something akin to *hokai* and ultimately transformed into forms resembling the imperial court.

The records concerning only one half of this Ohira-sama that appear at the beginning of the Sarashina Nikki are all deities. From its name alone, one can surmise this was a doll positioned in relation to a male deity. This doll—sometimes forming a pair, sometimes standing alone—was enshrined in households where it might be feared at times and familiarized at others. Thus gradually from this origin emerged the differentiated concept of "play dolls."

Even when examining solely doll history, there remain multiple elements that resist simple resolution as previously assumed. In my present consideration—if I may tentatively propose my latest theory—hina are hina-gata hina; might not the term "hina-gata" have possessed more fitting exemplars of usage before its current form? Viewed thus, the term 'ritual doll' and its essence become wholly synonymous. These dolls transformed into welcoming effigies; merging with principal deities, they came to be perceived as divine vessels, ultimately giving birth to later puppet theater traditions.