Wandering miko

Wandering Miko Aruki Miko (歩き巫女) are a historical variety of Miko, or Shinto priestesses, from Japan. Wandering Miko are characterised by their lack of allegiance to any particular shrine or temple, instead performing their religious duties in various locations over time.

Overview

While not belonging to specific Shinto shrines, wandering Miko made their living by traveling around the country praying, ordaining, and advocating. Similarly, walking maidens who doubled as Itinerant poets and prostitutes could be found. For this reason, they may be called Shirayu-moji (白湯文字, an ordinary woman who secretly engages in sex work), or Tabi-jo-rou (旅女郎, a prostitute who travels alone on foot to meet various clients). They may also be known as Azusa Miko, priestesses who performed rites by sounding strings, or Kumano Higauni, who spread the Kumano faith throughout Japan.

Waka (若, priestesses who served "offshoot" shrines known as Wakamiya), Agata Shirayamamiko Moriko (the wife of a Yamabushi), and others, are all said to have carried their gods with them and traveled from place to place to perform Kamado harahi and Mediumship.

Shinano Miko

A wandering shrine maiden who left present-day Nagano Prefecture Tōmi City and wandered throughout Japan performing her duties. It is said that during the Sengoku period, Mochizuki Chiyome trained such priestesses for the Kai Takeda clan, using them to gather information. Such women are sometimes referred to as Ku no Ichi.

Origins

Kunio Yanagita self-proclaimed to have originally been a priestess of the Suwa Shrine called Nonou (from the call or scripture), and traveled around the country as a preacher of the Suwa faith.[1]

Beginning of prostitution

As her passion for the gods faded, Yanagida established a community of shrine maidens around the village of Nezu, and according to her, she later would wander once more as a shrine maiden performing Mediumship In many places, she is known as Manchi or Mannichi (from Mannihyo), Nonou, Tabi-niro (Niigata), Iinawa or Iitsuna (under Kyoto Prefecture), Kongarasama (Okayama Prefecture, because her dance resembles Whirligig beetle), Oshihe, Tohjibanashi (Shimane Prefecture), Naoshi (Hiroshima Prefecture), and Naoshi (Hiroshima Prefecture). They were beautiful women aged between seventeen to their thirties. They appeared in various places from regions Kanto to Kinki, and were said to have gone around saying, "Would you like to speak to the shrine maidens?"[2] They wore a small box called a gaiho-bako, wrapped in a navy blue furoshiki (wrapping cloth) and sewn into a boat shape, carried on their backs.

The ritual consists of pouring water with withered leaves into a box called a gaihou, then lying face down.[3] I went. The gods presumed inside are not certain, but according to Ichiro Hori, there was "a five-inch statue of Kukunouchi (a scarecrow with a bow), a wooden statue of Kiboko (a man and a woman combined), a one-inch Buddha, a dried cat head, a white dog skull, dolls, and straw dolls.[4] There are records.

From New Year's Day of the lunar calendar to April, he would leave Nonou Koji in the old Nishi-machi of Nemitsu Village, travel to various places to work, and return by New Year's Eve at the latest. When he returned, he would perform a cold purification ceremony.

During the pilgrimage, the head of each shrine maiden village, called "Kahenushi" or "Boppoku", would scout out beautiful girls between the ages of 8 and 16 from various places (from Kanto to Kishu, mainly from Mino and Hida), either as a fixed age or as an adopted daughter. They were scouted and brought back to Shinshu to be trained by a senior nonou for three to five years before becoming a full-fledged master. According to Kenichi Tanigawa and Taro Nakayama, they were welcomed by the locals when they visited various places with a few things, and according to Nakayama, there is even a legend that "a Shinano priest is as rich as a spear (1,000 stones), and his luggage is carried by a specialist, so he can walk around without bills.[5] Of course, this was only because he was in the secular world, so he often "spread the money around" generously.

They came to Kansai (near Kawachinagano City) until around the early Meiji era.[6]

References
  1. 柳田國男『定本 柳田國男集 第22巻』207頁
  2. 谷川健一『賤民の異神と芸能』291頁
  3. 南方熊楠『南方熊楠全集 第8巻』329頁
  4. 堀一郎『我が国民間信仰の研究』673頁
  5. 中山太郎『日本巫女史』711頁 実際の巫女は手形を持っていたらしい
  6. 南方熊楠『南方熊楠全集 第8巻』329頁

Bibliography
  • Taro Nakayama, "History of Japanese Shrine Maidens
  • Kunio Yanagita, "Miko Ko", in "Teibon Kunio Yanagita Shu Vol. 9".
  • Ichiro Hori, A Study of the History of Beliefs among My People.
  • Ken'ichi Tanigawa, "Ijin no Ijin to Geijutsu (Different Gods and Performing Arts of the Lowly)," Iwanami Shoten
  • Ishikawa, Yoshikazu, "Shinano no Arukushimiko: The Real Image of Nonou, a Walking Miko in the Village of Nezu," Green Art Publishing Co.
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