Tamaseseri Festival January 3

Hakozaki Shrine was founded in 923, with the transfer of the spirit of the kami Hachiman from Daibu Hachiman Shrine in what is now Honami Commandery, Chikuzen Province, Kyūshū.

During the first invasion mongolian On November 19, 1274 (Bun'ei 11, 20th day of the 10th month), the defenders Japanese were repelled from the various landing sites. In the skirmishes that followed, the shrine was burned to the ground. When the shrine was rebuilt, a calligraphy Tekikoku kōfuku (敵国降伏; surrender of the enemy nation) was affixed to the tower gate. The calligraphy was written by Emperor Daigo, dedicated by Emperor Daijo Kameyama as a supplication to Hachiman to defeat the invaders.

The shrine is highly ranked among the many shrines of the Japan. It was listed in Engishiki-jinmyōchō (延喜式神名帳) edited in 927. In the 11th or 12th century, the shrine was classified as Ichinomiya (一宮; first shrine) of Chikuzen Province.

This is the origin of this unusual festival: in the past, it was thought that the white paper that had touched the sacred balls had the power to cure illnesses and bring good luck to the person who possessed it. Then followed fierce struggles between the faithful to seize the magic paper!

The two balls also gave rise to divinatory rites of which only the battle to obtain the yang ball. The latter, once purified, is transported to the nearby sanctuary of Tamatori Ebisu. There, after other rituals, this ball of 8 kg and 30 cm in diameter is passed to a crowd of men dressed only in a loincloth and who have just purified themselves in the sea.

Divided into two groups, one from the sea and one from the land, the participants will pass the ball at arm's length along the street (about 250 meters) leading from the Tamatori Ebisu sanctuary at the entrance tower of Hakozaki Shrine. The crowd is dense, the fight fierce, the atmosphere frenetic. The spectators also rush to try to touch the ball, supposed to bring good luck. To add to the difficulty and the spectacle, these almost naked men are sprayed with large buckets of cold water. at the very beginning of the month of January and the participants, as well as some of the spectators, are copiously watered! 

The festival ends in the courtyard of the shrine where the winning group hands the ball to a Shinto priest. It will then be placed next to the yin ball and both are symbolically offered to the God of the shrine. According to ancient belief, if the earth group wins, it predicts abundant harvests for the coming year. And if it is the sea group, it is said to ensure good fishing throughout the year.