Editing Shinto (section)

===Festivals===
[[File:Aoi Matsuri.jpg|thumb|Participants in a procession for Aoi Matsuri in Kyoto]]
Public festivals are commonly termed {{lang|ja-Latn|[[matsuri]]}},{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=81|2a1=Boyd|2a2=Williams|2y=2005|2p=36|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3pp=9, 86}} although this term has varied meanings—"festival", "worship", "celebration", "rite", or "prayer"—and no direct translation into English.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=117}} Picken suggested that the festival was "the central act of Shinto worship" because Shinto was a "community- and family-based" religion.{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xxvi}} Most mark the seasons of the agricultural year and involve offerings being directed to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} in thanks.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1pp=117–118|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=86}} According to a traditional [[lunar calendar]], Shinto shrines should hold their festival celebrations on {{lang|ja-Latn|hare-no-hi}} or "clear days", the days of the new, full, and half moons.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=46}} Other days, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|ke-no-hi}}, were generally avoided for festivities.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=46}} However, since the late 20th century, many shrines have held their festival celebrations on the Saturday or Sunday closest to the date so that fewer individuals will be working and will be able to attend.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=224|2a1=Earhart|2y=2004|2p=222}} Each town or village often has its own festival, centred on a local shrine.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=81}} For instance, the [[Aoi Matsuri]] festival, held on 15 May to pray for an abundant grain harvest, takes place at shrines in [[Kyoto]],{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=6|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=42}} while the [[Chichibu Night Festival]] takes place on 2–3 December in [[Chichibu, Saitama|Chichibu]].{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=59}}

Spring festivals are called {{lang|ja-Latn|haru-matsuri}} and often incorporate prayers for a good harvest.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=46}} They sometimes involve {{lang|ja-Latn|ta-asobi}} ceremonies, in which rice is ritually planted.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=46}} Summer festivals are termed {{lang|ja-Latn|natsu-matsuri}} and are usually focused on protecting the crops against pests and other threats.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=132}} Autumn festivals are known as {{lang|ja-Latn|aki-matsuri}} and primarily focus on thanking the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} for the rice or other harvest.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=2|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=35}} The {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Niiname-sai]]}}, or festival of new rice, is held across many Shinto shrines on 23 November.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=170}} The emperor also conducts a ceremony to mark this festival, at which he presents the first fruits of the harvest to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} at midnight.{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=205}} Winter festivals, called {{lang|ja-Latn|fuyu no matsuri}} often feature on welcoming in the spring, expelling evil, and calling in good influences for the future.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=32}} There is little difference between winter festivals and specific new year festivals.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=32}}

[[File:Tomioka hachimangu10.jpg|thumb|left|Procession of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} as part of the [[Fukagawa Matsuri]] festival in Tokyo]]
The [[Japanese New Year|season of the new year]] is called {{lang|ja-Latn|shogatsu}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=182|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=80}} On the last day of the year (31 December), {{lang|ja-Latn|omisoka}}, practitioners usually clean their household shrines in preparation for New Year's Day (1 January), {{lang|ja-Latn|ganjitsu}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=139}} Many people visit public shrines to celebrate new year;{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=205|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=199|3a1=Littleton|3y=2002|3p=80|4a1=Breen|4a2=Teeuwen|4y=2010|4p=3}} this "first visit" of the year is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|hatsumōde}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|hatsumairi}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=47|2a1=Breen|2a2=Teeuwen|2y=2010|2p=3}} There, they buy amulets and talismans to bring them good fortune over the coming year.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=208}} To celebrate this festival, many Japanese put up rope known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[shimenawa]]}} on their homes and places of business.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=206|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=163}} Some also put up {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kadomatsu]]}} ("gateway pine"), an arrangement of pine branches, plum tree, and bamboo sticks.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=206|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=81}} Also displayed are {{lang|ja-Latn|kazari}}, which are smaller and more colourful; their purpose is to keep away misfortune and attract good fortune.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=93}} In many places, new year celebrations incorporate {{lang|ja-Latn|[[hadaka matsuri]]}} ("naked festivals") in which men dressed only in a {{lang|ja-Latn|[[fundoshi]]}} loincloth engage in a particular activity, such as fighting over a specific object or immersing themselves in a river.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=41}}

A common feature of festivals are processions or parades known as {{lang|ja-Latn|gyōretsu}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=39–40}} These can be raucous, with many participants being drunk;{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=205|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=133}} Breen and Teeuwen characterised them as having a "carnivalesque atmosphere".{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=4}} They are often understood as having a regenerative effect on both the participants and the community.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=134}} During these processions, the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} travel in portable shrines known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[mikoshi]]}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=140|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=122|3a1=Littleton|3y=2002|3p=82|4a1=Breen|4a2=Teeuwen|4y=2010|4p=4}} In various cases the {{lang|ja-Latn|mikoshi}} undergo {{lang|ja-Latn|hamaori}} ("going down to the beach"), a process by which they are carried to the sea shore and sometimes into the sea, either by bearers or a boat.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=43}} For instance, in the Okunchi festival held in the southwestern city of [[Nagasaki]], the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} of the [[Suwa Shrine (Nagasaki)|Suwa Shrine]] are paraded down to Ohato, where they are placed in a shrine there for several days before being paraded back to Suwa.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|pp=152–154}} These sort of celebrations are often organized largely by members of the local community rather than by the priests themselves.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=4}}