Part 7: UPDATE 7

Archive 031 - Umi-okuri







Umi-okuri literally means "sending off to the sea" and umi-gaeri means "returning from the sea". Odd that a remote mountain village would have so many customs related to the water.


Archive 033 - Yoriko Anno's class notes





Tamon actually mentions yomotsuhegui in the video. This is an actual bit of Japanese folklore, from the story of the creator god and goddess, Izanagi and Izanami. According to William P. Fairchild in "Shamanism in Japan":

Izanagi's Trip to Yomi no Kuni (the Underworld). At the birth of the god of fire, Izanami was burned and died. Izanagi buried his wife. Then he made a trip to the underworld to bring her back to earth. Izanami told her husband that she could not return to earth because she had performed the "Yomotsu Hegui" or purification rite.

As Yoriko says, this concept is found in other cultures- most notably in the Greek myth of Persephone.