
祇園祭の長刀鉾(京都市下京区四条通烏丸東入ル)の稚児が、京都市東山区の八坂神社を参拝する「社参の儀」が2024年7月13日に営まれた。今年の稚児の西川雅基さん(11歳)が祭りの無事を祈った。
社参の儀は「お位(くらい)もらい」ともいわれ、10万石の大名の格式に相当する「正五位少将」を得たとみなされる。神事を終え「神の使い」となった稚児は地面に足を付けないよう、強力(ごうりき)と呼ばれる男性に担がれて本殿を後にした。
On July 13, 2024, the "Syasan no Gi" ceremony, in which the young boy of the Gion Festival's Nagatoboku (Shijo-dori Karasuma Higashi-iru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto City) visits Yasaka Shrine in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City, was held. This year's young boy, Nishikawa Masamoto (11 years old), prayed for the safety of the festival.
The shasan no Gi is also called "Okurai" and is considered to have attained the rank of "Shogoi Shosho", which is equivalent to the rank of a daimyo with a fief of 100,000 koku. After completing the ritual, the young boy, who had become a "messenger of the gods," was carried by a man called Goriki to avoid touching the ground as he left the main shrine.