午前６時前に僕は仮眠から目覚め、丹生川上神社上社の受付窓に行った。望月宮司はストーブの脇に座ったまま、うとうとしていた。まだ暗くて、しんとしていた境内は６時間前に参拝者で賑わい、「とんど焼き」という無病息災を祈る火が燃えた。零時を回り、大晦日から元日に入り、参拝者は神社の本殿で望月宮司にお祓いをしてもらった。

お神酒をいただき、本殿を出てから、参拝者はテント内のストーブやとんど焼きの火で温まりながら、気楽にお酒を飲み、酒の肴をつついた。望月宮司と僕もテントに入り、参拝者と話したり笑ったりした。しばらくして「午前３時や４時に来る人もいるから、私は寝なくても大丈夫です。エリック、少し仮眠してください」と望月宮司に言われてから、僕は奥の部屋で布団に入った。

元日の朝、僕はまず白衣に着替えて、受付窓に行き、障子のガラガラで望月宮司を起こしてしまった。ストーブがついていてもまだ寒かったから、早速暖房もつけた。７時前に初日の出が昇り、山々の間から光がゆっくり漏れた。１羽のトンビがダム湖の上を旋回し、神社の山吹色の幟が優しい風で撫でられた。僕は風景の写真を撮ってから、暖かい事務所に戻り、望月宮司と奥さんと一緒に大晦日に食べられなかった年越し蕎麦をいただいた。

そのうち、参拝者がまた少しずつ現れた。望月宮司はご祈祷の準備をした。奥さんはお湯を沸かし、甘酒の支度に取り掛かった。僕は受付の窓で座り、お守りを受けに来る参拝者を待った。一日中、子どもたちはおみくじを読み比べたり、灰色の砂利の上で走り回ったりしていた。年配のカップルはとんど焼きの火でゆっくり温まりながら、周りの山々を見た。望月宮司は本殿の太鼓を大きく叩き、ご祈祷を始めた。奥さんは参拝者のための甘酒を休みなく造った。寝不足でも二人は朱印をていねいに書き、参拝者を明るい笑顔で迎え、名前を覚えた。

夕暮れが近づき、一段と寒くなった。僕は石畳の上の砂利を竹箒で掃いた。地元の人は長いトンボレーキで境内の砂利に綺麗な線を描いた。望月宮司はいつもと同じように、筆と紙で今日の出来事を記録した。

丹生川上神社上社での手伝いが終わる前に、僕は境内の角からダム湖を見下ろしながら、こう思った。年末年始をこんな風に過ごすのは初めてだった。日本に実家がない僕は、普段この数日を家で一人で過ごす。望月宮司と奥さんと一緒にご飯を食べたり、参拝者の知り合いと話したり、朝から夕方まで神社でバタバタして、寂しくなる余裕がなかった。

Vol.8  First Sunrise

I woke up from my nap before 6 a.m. and went to the office window of Niu Kawakami Shrine Kamisha. Rev. Mochizuki sat next to the stove heater, sleeping quietly. The still dark and quiet grounds of the shrine had just six hours before been lively with worshippers, and the fire of the tondoyaki. When it passed midnight, we went from the last day of the year to the first, and worshippers entered the main hall to be purified by Rev. Mochizuki.

After sipping the sacred saké and leaving the main hall, the worshippers were warmed by the stove heaters in the tent or the flame of the tondoyaki, drinking saké and munching on snacks. Rev. Mochizuki and I entered the tent, talking and laughing with the worshippers. After a while, the reverend said, “Some people come around 3 or 4 a.m., so I don’t need to sleep. Eric, you go take a little nap.” I went to the back room and got inside a futon.

The morning of the first day of the year, I changed into the white clothing, went to the office window, and accidentally awoke Rev. Mochizuki with the rumble of the sliding door. It was cold even with the stove heater, so I quickly turned on the fan heater. The first sunrise of the year came up just before 7, and light slowly spilled through the mountains. A single kite bird circled over the dam lake, and the shrine’s yamabuki-colored flags were caressed by the soft wind. After I took a photo of this scene, I went back to the warm office and ate toshikoshi soba with the reverend and his wife.

In time, worshippers slowly started showing up. Rev. Mochizuki prepared to give his prayers. His wife boiled water and started making amazake. I sat at the office window and waited for worshippers who came to receive amulets. All day, children read and compared their fortunes, then ran around on the gray gravel. Elderly couples slowly warmed themselves by the tondoyaki flame and looked out at the mountains all around them. Rev. Mochizuki beat the taiko drum in the main hall and began prayers. His wife made batch after batch of amazake for the worshippers. Though sleep-deprived, the two of them carefully signed and stamped shuin for worshippers, greeting everyone with a bright smile and remembering their names.

The sunset approached and it became a little colder. I swept up the gravel that had rolled onto the stone paths with a bamboo broom. A local person used a long rake to draw clean lines in the gravel. Just as he always does, Rev. Mochizuki documented the day’s events with a small brush and sheet of paper.

Before my help at Niu Kawakami Shrine Kamisha was over, I looked down at the dam lake from the corner of the shrine grounds and had thought about this. It was the first time I spent a New Year’s like this. Without a family home in Japan, I usually spend New Year’s at home by myself. Eating meals with Rev. Mochizuki and his wife, talking with the worshippers I knew, and staying busy from morning to evening at the shrine, there was not enough time to get lonely.