Correction: Fushimi Inari Taisha: Guide to Omitama Offerings
Errors in this post have been corrected.
I previously commissioned and posted a translation into English of Guide to Omitama Offerings, a Fushimi Inari Taisha (the head shrine of Inari) publication on the care and worship of wakemitama (divided spirit of Inari-sama).
Today Iāve been doing research on Hatsuuma (åå) (one of the main matsuri (festivals) of Inari) to build a wiki, called WikInari, which I havenāt opened up yet. In the process of doing so, I discovered that the translators made an error in the translation of Guide to Omitama Offerings. It correctly stated that Inari-sama descended onto the three peaks of Inariyama (Mt. Inari) on the first horse day of the second month (Kisaragi) of WadÅ 4 (711 AD). However, the translator inserted a note in brackets indicating that the first horse day was the sixth day of the month. In fact though, the first horse day of any month is always differentā¦ in 711, it was the eleventh day of Kisaragi. I have now corrected this.
Kisaragi, however, is not the same as February. The Japanese during this period used a lunar calendar. Kisaragi refers to the second month of that lunar calendar, which does not line up exactly with February. The eleventh day of Kisaragi of WadÅ 4 is in fact March 4, 711 using todayās calendar. However, we continue to celebrate Hatsuuma on the first horse day of the second month ā itās just that now, we are using the modern calendarās second month, February. The end result is that we celebrate Hatsuuma about a month earlier than the actual yearly anniversary.
I should clarify here that āhorse dayā refers to days that have the Chinese zodiac of the horse (uma, å). Most people are familiar with the fact that each Chinese year has a zodiac sign (āYear of the Tiger/Horse/etcā), but each month, day, and even hour has one too. At any given point in time, there are animals for that timeās year, month, day, and hour.
Long story short, reading the original, erroneous translation you would be led to believe that Inari descended and was enshrined onto the three peaks of Inariyama on February 6th, 711. This is incorrectā¦ it was on February 11th, 711. (source [1])
Today, Hatsuuma is celebrated on whatever the first horse day of February is for each year. It commemorates Inariās enshrinement onto the Fushimi mountain peaks themselves, which occurred on what was the first horse day of the second month of 711. FYI, the first horse day of February, in other words, the Hatsuuma, for the next few years are:
Tuesday, February 4th, 2014
Wednesday, February 11th, 2015 (same date as 711!! :D )
Saturday, February 6th, 2016
Sunday, February 12th, 2017
Some sources for these dates (sorry, cannot find any English sources): [2] [3] [4]
A second festival is also celebrated for Inari on the second horse day of February. This is called ni no uma (äŗć®å) ([1] [5]). Some also celebrate a third festival on the third horse day (which usually ends up in March), calledā¦ yep, you guessed it, san no uma (äøć®å) ([5]).
The upcoming ni no uma dates are: (source [2])
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Monday, February 23, 2015
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Friday, February 24, 2017
The upcoming san no uma dates are: (source [2])
Friday, February 28, 2014
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