or is a Japanese

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

ritual using rice or bean

gruel Gruel is a food consisting of some type of cereal—such as ground oats, wheat, rye, or rice—heated or boiled in water or milk. It is a thinner version of porridge that may be more often drunk rather than eaten. Historically, gruel has been a ...

. Traditionally, the ''kayu ura'' ritual took place on the 15th day of the first

lunar month In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Variations In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Europ ...

, but since the adoption of the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

it has been conventional to perform the ceremony on January 15; this date is known as ''ko-shōgatsu'' or "Little New Year". Divination by gruel is generally used for agricultural predictions; it is presumed to predict the weather and harvests for the coming year. The ceremony takes various forms. A common practice is to stir a large pot of rice gruel () with a split wooden stick, and to observe the number and organisation of the grains that adhere to the stick when it is removed. In another variation, known as ''tsutsugayu shinji'', multiple hollow cylinders made of split bamboo or reeds are placed in the gruel, each cylinder corresponding to a specific month. Shinto prayers are chanted and the rice porridge is then left overnight. The following morning, the cylinders are cut open and the contents examined – the more rice that has stuck to the inside of the tube, the more propitious the harvest. If multiple tubes are used, these usually correspond to specific months of the year, and the results are recorded on a month-by-month basis. The ''tsutsugayu shinji'' variation is practiced at the

Suwa Grand Shrine , historically also known as Suwa Shrine (諏訪神社 ''Suwa-jinja'') or , is a group of Shinto shrines in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The shrine complex is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Shinano Province and is considered to be one of the oldest sh ...

. Whilst rice is usually used, a porridge made from

red beans Red bean is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * Adzuki bean (''Vigna angularis''), commonly used in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese cuisine, particularly as red bean paste * Kidney bean, red variety of '' Phaseolus vulgaris'', c ...

(a symbol of fertility) can be substituted as an alternative. A further variation on the ritual is used in

Akita is a Japanese name and may refer to: Places * 8182 Akita, a main-belt asteroid * Akita Castle, a Nara period fortified settlement in Akita, Japan * Akita Domain, also known as Kubota Domain, feudal domain in Edo period Japan * Akita, Kumamoto, ...

, in which the gruel is not stirred but is instead smeared on a wooden pole; predictions are made based on how much rice sticks to the pole and the patterns that it makes. The oldest form of this ceremony, and the precursor to those listed above, involves a Shinto priest examining the mould that has formed on a bowl of rice porridge that has been stored in a special box for several days.

References

{{reflist Shinto festivals Festivals in Japan Congee Divination