Kyoto & Osaka · Nara
Otaue Rice-Planting Rite (Kasuga Taisha)
御田植神事(春日大社)
A rite held at Kasuga Taisha in Nara every year on 15 March to pray for a good harvest. The tanushi, master of the field, mimes tilling with a hoe; a man in an ox mask draws a plough; and then the shrine maidens called yaotome dance the rice-field dance, miming the planting of pine seedlings to the planting songs of the shrine musicians. It is offered in three places: the Ringo-no-niwa courtyard of the main shrine, before Enomoto Shrine and before Wakamiya Shrine. It is said to date from 1163.
Next
15 March 2027
RegularWorked out from the organiser’s fixed schedule.
131 days away
Every year, 15 March
Future dates: 15 March 2027 · 15 March 2028 · 15 March 2029
Origin
The Otaue rite of Kasuga Taisha is said to have begun in 1163, at the end of the Heian period. It was once held on the first day of the monkey after 8 January, and since 1872 has been held on 15 March. Pine seedlings stand in for rice seedlings because of a tale that the god of Hiraoka, on the way to Kasuga, used pine seedlings at Yakasuga near Byakugō-ji to save people suffering a failed harvest.
What to look for
In the Ringo-no-niwa courtyard of the main shrine, the yaotome dance the rice-field dance, miming the planting of pine seedlings to the planting songs. Before the dance, the tanushi mimes tilling with a hoe and the ox man, in an ox mask, draws a plough and harrow to show the making of the field. The musicians’ songs are joined by clappers, cymbals, a sasara rattle and a kagura flute. After the courtyard, the dance is offered again before Enomoto Shrine and before Wakamiya Shrine. The rice seed scattered by the yaotome is given out at Meoto Daikoku Shrine as Fuku-no-tane, a charm for good fortune.
How to watch
Kasuga Taisha in principle prohibits, anywhere in its precincts, photography that disturbs rites or events or inconveniences worshippers, including the use of tripods, monopods, selfie sticks, stepladders and lighting. Drones are prohibited. The rice-field dance is offered as part of a rite, so watch from where you will not get in its way.
If you go
It begins at about 11 a.m. on 15 March in the Ringo-no-niwa courtyard of the main shrine. The Otaue rite before it, from 10 a.m., is closed to the public. The dance then moves to Enomoto Shrine and to Wakamiya Shrine. Earlier the same week, on the 13th, comes the Kasuga Festival, one of Japan’s three great imperial-envoy festivals, which is closed to the public.
Where
Kasuga Taisha
Nara
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