Shiraito’s Kanmisogi (Purification Ceremony at Kumano Shrine in Itoshima City)

白糸熊野神社の寒みそぎ

Shiraito’s Kanmisogi is a traditional event extending back for about 400 years, and has been passed down for generations as the signature winter event of Itoshima (formerly Maebaru) City. The festival to pray for abundant crops starts at midnight on December 18 every year.
After about 100 men in loincloths receive purification in a ceremony on the grounds of Kumano Shrine, they run about 200 meters (656 feet) to the “Misogiba (place to get purified)” in the Nagano River, lead by three people who carry a tub of votive rice. While the rice in the tub is washed in the headwaters, the men submerge themselves in the cold river up to their waist and vigorously splash each other with water to get purified. After the rice is washed, they go back to the shrine grounds and cook it in a pot outside. Some of the rice is shaped into a tall, thin heap, dedicated to the god of the shrine, and prayed over. It is said that the lean of the rice heap decides the fate of the harvest.

Address (Japanese)	819-1154　福岡県糸島市白糸684　川付川（熊野神社付近）
Address	684 Shiraito, Itoshima City, Fukuoka
Telephone Number	092-322-2098（（一社）糸島市観光協会）
Contact	Itoshima City Office
Open	Starts at the midnight on December 18
Car Park	Available (at the Shiraito Branch of Nagaito Elementary School)
Access	By train - a 20 minute drive from JR Chikuzen Maebaru Station on the Chikuhi Line
Website	http://www.city.maebaru.fukuoka.jp/kanko/cat172/post_23.php