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The Aizen-en holds festivals all year around
with the most
notable listed in the following.
Toad-like protrusion (Gama-iwa)
of the cave on Mt. Takakuma
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| Festival | Date | Description |
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New Year
Festival | Jan. 1 | A festival to celebrate the New Year. |
Grand Setsubun
Festival | Feb. 3 |
Setsubun is the lunar New Year's Eve and as such heralds the coming of spring. On this day, we pray to what we believe is the Creator, the Great Deity Kamususanowo no Okami, for the purification of the many sins and defilements we have committed consciously or unconsciously.
Employed at this great purification ritual are katashiro slips of paper modeled after Kamususanowo no Okami. Your personal information, such as name, address and date of birth is written on the katashiro paper so that He will redeem you from your sins and impurities. (See the picture below)
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Grand Miroku
Festival | Apr. | On lunar March 3, Showa 3 (1928), Onisaburo reached the age of an exact 56 years and 7 months (567). The number 567, also read "Miroku (Maitreya)," is a symbol of the Great Deity Miroku no Okami, who Onisaburo says will descend to the earth to save humankind.
On this auspicious day, Onisaburo declared his earthly descent as Miroku no Okami manifested, and a festival ensued in honor of this holy descent.
This is how the Grand Miroku Festival started. Since then we have held this annual celebration to hand down to posterity the siginificance and blessings of the historically unique Descent of the Great Deity of the Heavenly Kingdom (Creator).
 Youth priests performing the festival (2003) |
| Poem Festival | Aug. | A festival held on the day before the Nativity of the Spirit of Mizu.
The state-compiled historical records Kojiki and Nihonshoki read that the deity Susanowo no Mikoto initiated the 31-syllable Japanese poems. This kami has much to do with the Aizen-en because he is believed to be a manifestation of the Great Deity Kamususanowo no Okami.
Deriving from this ancient myth, poem festivals had been observed in older Japanese society but died out unnoticed. Onisaburo revived the tradition in 1935. Commemorating this revival, we hold the Poem Festival at the Aizen-en.
The first Poem Festival at Kameoka (Oct. 31, 1935). Onisaburo reciting his followers' poems (left), the yumidaiko bow-drum (center), and the two-stringed yakumokoto (right) |
• Click here for the Poem Festival in motion.
On the night of the festival, worshippers dance the "Miroku dance," somewhat similar to the Bon dance, to the accompaniment of the "Miroku dance song." They are both Onisaburo's invention.
It will be fun to watch pepole--men and women, young and old alike--dancing cheerfully to the lively and soul-stirring beats of the Japanese drum.
Onisaburo leading the dance (1930) |
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Nativity of the Spirit
of Mizu | Aug. | A festival celebrating the birth of Onisaburo (Spirit of Mizu manifested), and also the return of him, his wife Sumi and his son-in-law Uchimaru to Kameoka for the first time in 6 years and 8 months upon their parole on August 7, 1942.
The Nativity of the Spirit of Mizu and the Poem Festival are collectively called the "Susanowo Summer Festival," adding poetic charm to the season at the Aizen-en.
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Grand Aizen-en
Festival | Nov. | On the 10th anniversary of the authorities' unlawful suppression of Omoto (Second Omoto Incident), Onisaburo made a fresh start, declaring the foundation of the Aizen-en to shed the old Omoto.
As time elapsed, the original purpose and aspiration were gone, and the organization reverted to the old setup under the discarded title of Omoto.
However, a mystic twist of fate made possible the miraculous comeback of the Aizen-en on November 7, 1986 with Onisaburo as its eternal head.
The Grand Aizen-en Festival is held to commemorate the auspicous day when the reborn Aizen-en enshrined the Great Deity Kamususanowo no Okami at the Kumano Yakata (formerly Onisaburo's residence on the Nakayada farm).
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December 8
Festival | Dec. | This festival commemorates December 8, 1945, when a religious service was held to mark the conclusion of the Second Omoto Incident and the inception of the Aizen-en.
The ceremony to report the settlement of the Second Omoto Incident (Dec. 8, 1945). (Right to left, front row) Onisaburo, Sumi, Uchimaru, and believers offering prayers on Mt. Hongu in the Ayabe sanctuary.
Following the festival, Uchimaru read Onisaburo's message that the old title of Omoto would soon be discarded to form the "Aizen-en" in Kameoka, a group aimed at launching the universal love and brotherhood campaign for world peace. |
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Besides the above, we also hold monthly tsukinamisai ceremonies, reisai memorial services and other rituals.
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Copyright © The Aizen-en All Rights Reserved.
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