Namahage

The Namahage (生剥げ, なまはげ)[1] are demonlike beings portrayed by men wearing hefty oni (ogre) masks and traditional straw capes (mino) during a New Year's ritual, in local northern Japanese folklore of the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture.

[2] They are armed with deba knives (albeit wooden fakes[3] or made of papier-mâché) and toting a teoke (手桶, "hand pail" made of wood),[4] march in pairs or threes going door-to-door making rounds of people's homes, admonishing children who may be guilty of laziness or bad behavior,[4] yelling phrases like "Are there any crybabies around?"

[7] But in recent years they have been manufactured using bamboo strainers as frames, cardboard material, or flattened metal canisters, etc.,[8] and the namahage may travel in pairs, one red-faced, the other blue-faced, in the hamlet of Yumoto (incorporated into the city of Oga), for example.

[6] The straw attire are often described as a mino (standard Japanese),[a] but these are considered particular items of clothing known locally as kede (or kende; kedashi).

[10][11][12] Although the namahage are nowadays conceived of as a type of oni or ogre, it was originally a custom where youngsters impersonated the kami who made visitations during the New Year's season.

According to 20th century descriptions, the namahage would typically receive mochi (rice cakes) from the households they visited,[3] but newlywed couples were supposed to play host to them in full formal attire and offer them sake and food.

The aforementioned Namahage Sedo Festival, which was not established until 1964, is held annually on the second weekend of February[16] (roughly coinciding with the "Little New Year"), at the Shinzan Shrine [ja].

[20][21] The first theory is the Namahage creation, inspired by the appearance of yamabushi (山伏, Shugendō practionner) who prayed in the houses of villages after their rigorous ascetic training in the mountains such as Honzan (本山) and Shinzan (真山).

According to this theory, the Namahage was inspired by the appearance of five bats that followed Emperor Wu to Oga peninshla and turned into oni.

[24] Some ethnologists and folklorists suggest it relates to a belief in deities (or spirits) coming from abroad to take away misfortune and bring blessings for the new year,[25] while others believe it to be an agricultural custom where the kami from the sacred mountains visit.