Otaue
“Otaue” is the name for Shinto ceremonies that mark the planting of rice seedlings in wet rice fields. In Japan, rice is normally sown in one place, and then replanted out into the wet rice fields around June, when it has grown a bit. “O-ta-ue” means “honourable-rice field-planting”, so the naming is quite straightforward. These ceremonies play an important role in the cycle of Shinto matsuri concerned with rice agriculture, and quite a lot of jinja maintain them today, despite the decline in the importance of agriculture as a field… Read More »Otaue