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CULTURE
Kansai Waters
Column The Blessings of Water
Water and its role in the Kansai diet
Special Kansai products produced with water
A selection of famous local waters
Water in Day-to-day Scenes
A Water Tour of Kansai
Japanese saying that refer to water
Mother Lake
Water Projects in Kansai
Water Business
Water in the Present
A Water Tour of Kansai
Praying for World Peace and the Future of Humanity
NARA Prefecture Nara City
FUKUI Prefecture Obama City
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Omizutori at Todaiji Temple's Nigatsudo dates back to the Nara period. The water of faith is believed to come from Wakasa.

The Omizutori fire service, with its torches blazing in the dark.
The Omizutori fire service, with its torches blazing in the dark.
Omizutori (water-drawing), a spring event of Nigatsudo Hall at Todaiji Temple, Nara City, is held in early February of the lunar calendar to pray for protection against evil and for happiness, abundant harvests and peace in the new year. This rite (shunie) is one of several known collectively as kekae, Buddhist ceremonies originated by a priest named JITCHU Kasho in 752 and handed down over the centuries at the old temples. Thus Omizutori has been practiced for some 1,200 years. The original kekae ceremonies each involved a series of religious services held six times a day (midday, sunset, early evening, midnight, small hours of the morning, and early morning) for either 7 or 14 consecutive days.
The tradition of Omizuokuri brings to mind the water connection between Nara and Wakasa. (Obama City, Fukui Prefecture)
The tradition of Omizuokuri brings to mind the water connection between Nara and Wakasa. (Obama City, Fukui Prefecture)

Because this is an enormous asceticism, most temples have over the years simplified the rites and shortened the periods. It is said that only two temples, Todaiji and Horyuji, continue to perform Omizutori in the same manner as in the Nara period, holding services for the entire 14 days.

Nigatsudo's Omizutori (referring to the entire ceremony or to the individual water-drawing service itself) takes place from March 1 to 14, actually ending the early morning of the 15th. Many different services are performed during this time, but the largest are Otaimatsu (torch) and Omizutori. Otaimatsu, held at dusk, is a fire service in which priests extend 10 huge torches about eight meters long and one meter in diameter from the hall's veranda, waving them about.
Omizutori takes place on the night of the 12th, or to be exact, after 2 a.m. on the 13th. In this rite, kozui (Wakasa water) is drawn from the Wakasa well in the akaiya, a place within Nigatsudo that contains the temple's sacred wells. The rite is led by 11 torchbearers, and when the water is drawn, a blare of conch shells resounds; this announces the service's climax because the actual drawing of the holy water is not observed by the general public attending the service.

Legend says that the water in the Wakasa well comes all the way from Wakasa (Obama City, Fukui Prefecture). In the Nara period, the legend goes, Jitchu Kasho asked the gods from all parts of Japan to attend the shunie at Todaiji's Nigatsudo. Onyu Myojin of Wakasa arrived late for the gathering, however, because he had been busy fishing. Myojin deeply regretted his lateness and by way of apology promised to offer kozui (aromatic water) from Wakasa to Nigatsudo's principal image. With those words, a black and white cormorant (a black cormorant and a white cormorant) flew out of a rock in Nigatsudo and water began to pour forth from the rock: Wakasa water. Thus the name of the Wakasa well derives from this legend.

A related event, the rite of Omizuokuri (water-sending), is held at Jinguji Temple in Obama City on March 2 to "deliver" the clear water from the nearby Unose (Cormorant Rapids) of the Onyu River to Nara and present it to Nigatsudo's principal image.
Because the objective of Omizutori is to confess one's sins to the principal image and pray for world peace, the welfare of humanity and rich harvests, the content of the prayer may differ from year to year. In recent years, for example, prayers have asked for the abolition of nuclear weapons, conservation of the global environment, and recovery of society after the Great Hanshin Earthquake. Omizutori is a seasonal word referring to spring, and in Kansai, it is an event that signals the arrival of spring.

Cultural Affairs and Tourism Division, Nara Prefectural Government
TEL 0742-22-1101
Obama City Tourism Association
TEL 0770-53-1111

Unose on the Onyu River, where the water for Omizutori is said to come from. The sacred water is "sent" to Nara by traditional rite.(Obama City, Fukui Prefecture)
Unose on the Onyu River, where the water for Omizutori is said to come from. The sacred water is "sent" to Nara by traditional rite.
(Obama City, Fukui Prefecture)

The path to Unose. The torii gate indicates the precincts of a shrine.
The path to Unose. The torii gate indicates the precincts of a shrine.


Jinguji Temple, where the ancient Omizuokuri ceremony is held. (Obama City, Fukui Prefecture)
Jinguji Temple, where the ancient Omizuokuri ceremony is held. (Obama City, Fukui Prefecture)
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