Namahage in traditional Japanese folklore is a demonlike being, portrayed by men wearing hefty oni masks and traditional straw capes during a New Year's ritual of the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture in northern Honshū, Japan. The frightfully dressed men, armed with deba knives and toting a, 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, yelling phrases like "Are there any crybabies around?" or "Are naughty kids around?" in the pronunciation and accent of the local dialect.
Older tradition
The practice has shifted over the years.
Season
The namahage visits nowadays take place on New Year's Eve. But it used to be practiced on the so-called "Little New Year", the first full moon night of the year. This is the 15th day of the first lunar calendrical year, which is not the same thing as January 15; it usually falls around mid-February, exactly two weeks after the Chinese New Year.
Etymology
The namahage's purpose was to admonish laggards who sit around the fire idly doing nothing useful. One of the refrains used by the namahage in the olden days was "Blisters peeled yet?". Namomi signifies heat blisters, or more precisely hidako, a rashlike condition caused by overexposure to fire, from sitting by the dugout irori hearth. Thus "fire rash peeling" is generally believed to be the derivation of the name namahage. Some of the namahage's other spoken lines of old were "Knife whetted yet?" and "Boiled adzuki beans done yet?". The knife apparently signified the instrument to peel the blisters, and it was customary to have azuki gruel on the "Little New Year". 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. Thus it is a kind of toshigami. The namahage would typically receive mochi from the households they visited, but newlywed couples were supposed to play host to them in full formal attire and offer them sake and food.
Legend
The legend of the Namahage varies according to an area. An Akita legend has developed regarding the origins of namahage, that Emperor Wu of Han from China came to Japan bringing five demonic oni to the Oga area, and the oni established quarters in the two local high peaks, Honzan and Shinzan. These oni stole crops and young women from Oga's villages. The citizens of Oga wagered the demons that if they could build a flight of stone steps, one thousand steps in all, from the village to the five shrine halls all in one night, then the villagers will supply them with a young woman every year. But if they failed the task they would have to leave. Just as the ogres were about to complete the work, a villager mimicked the cry of a rooster, and the ogres departed, believing they had failed.
Interpretations
An obvious purpose of the festival is to encourage young children to obey their parents and to behave, important qualities in Japan's heavily structured society. Parents know who the Namahage actors are each year and might request them to teach specific lessons to their children during their visit. The Namahage repeat the lessons to the children before leaving the house. Some ethnologists and folklorists suggest it relates to a belief in deities coming from abroad to take away misfortune and bring blessings for the new year, while others believe it is an agricultural custom where the kami from the sacred mountains visit.
