01 / Nagikama-uchi Ritual
The head priest of Suwa Taisha drivesa cockscomb-shaped sickle into a sacred tree.
In Ox years at Ogura Myojin in Nakamata, Todo, and in Sheep years at Sakai-no-miya, the head priest of Suwa Taisha strikes a nagikama into the sacred tree with a wooden mallet. The nagikama, shaped like a rooster's comb, is one of the sacred implements of the Suwa deity, and the Hachijuni Cultural Foundation records that those driven in by past head priests remain in the tree. The village describes the ritual as held once every seven years.
- Prefectural intangible folk cultural property, 1992
- Ox years at Ogura Myojin, Sheep years at Sakai-no-miya
- The village says once every seven years
