豊漁を願う港町の祭事、伝統の火渡り神事

毎年7月と9月、北海道の古平町で行われる神事。「天狗の火渡り」とも言われるこの神事は、記紀（古事記、日本書紀）に登場する猿田彦という神様を指す天狗を祀る。神事の中では宵宮祭、海上渡御、陸上渡御、神輿行列といった祭事が行われ、その最後を飾るのが天狗の火渡り。

獅子舞が、御神体を掲げる神輿が、そして赤い布を纏った天狗（猿田彦神）が燃え盛る炎の中を潜り抜ける。この火は「忌火」、強い精神性と浄化の象徴であり、火の中の渡ることで罪穢れを清め、災厄を逃れて新たな一年を清々しく迎えることを願う。

Traditional fire-walking ritual to pray for a good catch of fish

Shinto ritual held annually in July and September in the town of Kodaira, Hokkaido. The ritual, also known as ‘Tengu no hiwatari’ (Tengu fire-walking), is dedicated to a god named Sarutahiko, who appears in the Chronicles of Japan (Kojiki and Nihonshoki). The rituals include the Yoimiya Festival, the maritime procession, the land procession and the portable shrine procession, and the Tengu fire-walking is the final part of the ritual.

A lion dance, a portable shrine carrying the sacred body and a tengu (Sarutahiko god) dressed in a red cloth walk through the blazing fire. The fire is a symbol of spirituality and purification, and the crossing through the fire is intended to purify sins and impurities, to escape misfortune and to welcome the new year in a clean and fresh manner.