The ritual of Kayu-uranai
(Designated as an intangible folk cultural assets
of Fukuoka Prefecture)
The ritual of Kayu-uranai ("Rice porridge fortune telling") is predicts how the upcoming rice harvest will be by observing the mold growing on top of kayu (rice porridge). It is held between February 14 and early March.
It is highly secret ritual that only Guji (chief priest) and kayumoto (the particular 4 families or clans in Iimori) have the right and the obligation to participate in this ritual, and other people can know only the result of the fortune telling.
In the morning on Februaly 14, three dishes of vegetables (peeled Japanese radish, a carrot, the burdock), cooked rice, and a sea bream are offered. This expresses early, intermediate, and late season's rice crops.
At 8 pm, all the members gather and exchange sacred sake in an abalone shell as a cup. They cook the rice porridge until the early next morning. The cooked rice porridge is served in three cups of thin bowls and offered before an altar until March 1st.
 Kainame-sai (exchange sacred sake |
 Lighting a pot |
 Cooking rice-porridge |
 Serving rice-porridge |
 Offering rice-porridge |