Making “Oshimenawa” at Shiogama Temple. Preparing for the New Year (Miyagi) (12/24/12, 11:47)

Preparations are underway for the New Year. On December 12, at Shiogama Shrine, people made “Oshimenawa” to decorate the shrine and torii gate. At the Shiogama Shrine in Shiogama City, approximately 1,000 shimenawa, including 15 large shimenawa, are made annually for two months starting in mid-October. This year, about 5 tons of straw were collected from the Okanda territory and donated by farmers in the city of Rifu. Five temple staff collect 28 coarse ropes and wrap them with straw. Two thick ropes were woven into one to create a large shimenawa 8 meters long, 20 centimeters thick and weighing 60 kilograms. Shiogama Shrine Shigekazu Suzuki Goneyoshi “We hope that next year will be peaceful and calm without natural disasters, and we will work hard to make shimenawa ropes, so we hope that many people will come to visit us.” Shiogama Shrine The temple’s large shimenawa ropes are on display in the worship hall on December 20th.