By JIRO OMURA/ Staff Writer
December 20, 2019 at 18:40 JST
Followers beat tatami mats with bamboo sticks called “susutake” to remove a year’s worth of dust on Dec. 20 at Nishi-Honganji temple in Kyoto’s Shimogyo Ward. (Yoshiko Sato)
KYOTO--Followers at two temples here cast out a year's worth of dust on the morning of Dec. 20 in an annual tradition that dates back about 500 years.
At Nishi-Honganji temple in the city’s Shimogyo Ward, the clean-up started after Kojun Otani, 42, the chief priest, waved a broom about 4 meters long. Followers and Buddhist monks beat tatami mats in the main hall of the temple using bamboo sticks to lift dust into the air. A giant fan was used to blow away the dust.
The year-end event is said to go back to the time when Rennyo was a renowned Buddhist monk of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist sect during the Muromachi Period (1336-1573).
At Higashi-Honganji temple in the ward, followers beat tatami mats working side by side.
Choken Otani, 89, a chief priest of the temple, wrapped up the event by drawing the kanji for “kotobuki,” meaning “congratulations,” in the air using a bamboo stick.
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