黒川能の里王祇会館 - 展示解説文（大地踏み）
春日神社の王祇祭の神聖な儀式のひとつに、大地踏みがあります。神社の上・下座の当屋から選ばれた、通常5歳くらいの少年が踊る踊りです。
上座を代表する男の子は、黒いヘッドバンドと黒いローブが付いた金の頭飾りを着ています。一方、下座を代表する男の子は、長い上着で覆われた赤いローブと、赤いヘッドバンドが付いた黒い頭飾りを着ています。
大地踏みは、反閇（魔法の力があると信じられている特別な足音）と呼ばれる神道の儀式に基づいています。それは地球の精神を落ち着かせ、鎮圧するために行われます。日本の旧暦の正月である2月1日と2日に王祇祭が行われるため、来年の平和と豊作を願う儀式でもあります。
上座の少年は、4つの基本的な方向を示す振り付けの儀式で地面を踏み、下座の少年は、5つの要素を表す対角線の方向を踏みます。
王祇祭では、2月1日に各座の当屋に1回、翌朝に1回、両座のメンバーを対象に神社の能の舞台で1回の計3回の儀式が行われます。
Ogi Festival: Stomping of the Earth
NOTE: This corresponds to a museum exhibit where content will be accessed by scanning a QR code.
One of the rituals of Kasuga Jinja Shrine’s Ogi Festival is daichifumi (stomping on the earth). It is a dance performed by boys usually about five years old who are selected from the families of the toya (lay officiants) of the upper and lower troupes of the shrine.
The boy representing the upper troupe dress in a gold headdress with black headband and black robe, while the boy representing the lower troupe is dressed in a red robe that is later covered with a longer overgarment, and a black headdress with a red headband.
Daichifumi is based on a Shinto ritual called henbai (special stamping of the feet believed to have magical powers). It is performed to awaken the spirits of the earth and suppress evil spirits. As the Ogi Festival is held on February 1 and 2, which are the dates of New Year in the old Japanese lunar-solar calendar, the ritual is also performed as a prayer for peace and a good harvest in the year ahead.
The boy from the upper troupe stomps his feet in a choreographed ritual marking the four cardinal directions, while the boy from the lower troupe stomps in the diagonal directions, which represent the five elements.
During the Ogi Festival, the ritual is performed three times: once on February 1 for the toya of each troupe, once on the following morning, and once on the shrine’s noh stage for the members of both troupes.
