Toka Ebisu @Nishinomiya Shrine Tour

From left top: Ebisuten, Daikokuten, Bishamonten, Benzaiten, 恵比寿天、大黒天、毘沙門天、弁財天） Bottom: Jurōjin, Fukurōju, Hoteison（寿老人、福禄寿、布袋尊)　＊天 -ten means “God”.

After entering the gate and walking for a while, I found the section where last year’s Fukusasa branches were returned for a ritual called Otakiage お焚き上げ . Otakiage is the tradition of burning the previous year’s religious items such as talismans, amulets, daruma, hamaya, kumade, fukusasa, etc. with sacred fire. This is the way people show appreciation for old lucky charms and then obtain new ones for the year.

Returning the previous year’s Fukusasa for お焚き上げ Otakiage

Along the shrine approach, we see colorful sailing flags.
Colorful flags for fishing ships. Ebisu is a patron of fishery.

Walking a little bit further, and just before entering the 拝殿 Haiden – front shrine (where people stop to pray) and the 本殿 Honden – inner main shrine, there are 授与所 juyōjo shops where you can buy amulets, charms, fukusasa 福笹, etc. Actually you can buy them at many other areas in the shrine premises too.

The time was around 10:15am. There are so many people already!

The Daikokuten is usually decorated along with the Ebisu, Daikokuten 大黒天 (or Daikoku-sama) is the Japanese equivalent of Mahākāla, the Hindu name for Shiva. One will notice that the Japanese Daikokuten looks very happy as he’s the one supposed to bring fortune among the seven lucky gods. Daikokuten is the god of commerce and prosperity and it’s quite similar to Ebisuten, so that’s why they are decorated as a set.

This is the 拝殿 Haiden – the front shrine for people to pray. At the back is the 本殿 Honden – the inner shrine. Actually in the Honden of the Nishinomiya shrine, Amaterasu Oomikami 天照大御神 – Sun godness and Susanoo 須佐之男 – storm god and the young brother of Amaterasu Oomikami are both enshrined beside the main Ebisuten. 

In the Haiden area, there is an Ōmaguro hōnō 大マグロ奉納 – or big tuna offering. In a typical year, people queue up and place their coins onto the tuna’s body wishing for financial success for the coming year.

You’ll find many other food and drink offerings in the Haiden premises such as Japanese Sake, rice, seafood, fruits, etc.

9 January is called Yoi Ebisu 宵えびす (Ebis eve). Usually, on this day, the 献湯式 Kentōshiki ceremony is held by the geishas of Arima Onsen from 2:00pm onwards. But this was cancelled due to the pandemic. Here’s a video we shot two years ago. 🙂

For many shrine visitors, their main purpose is to buy a Fukusasa lucky branch. Fukusasa are branches of leafy bamboo decorated with lucky trinkets and ornaments called Kicchō 吉兆 – lucky charm decorations. The meaning of 吉兆 is auspicious and refers to the engimono 縁起物 lucky charm ornaments.

Now it’s my turn to buy the fukusasa! Big 大 costs ¥3,000 while small 小 is ¥1,000. I bought the small one. The Miko-san 巫女 shrine maiden is the one who hands out the fukusasa.

After purchasing fukusasa and walking toward the exit, I saw an Amazake 甘酒 – sweet sake shop. It seems that the shop was a permanent fixture at the shrine (because this year, all Yatai 屋台 – food stalls were not allowed to open to prevent the spread of COVID). In a typical year, there are so many Yatai during the Toka Ebisu festival.

Beside the main shrine for Ebisuten, there are 12 other subsidiary shrines in the Nishinomiya shrine premises. I won’t introduce each of them here, but when you visit a major shrine like this, you might find that people also queue and pray to the smaller shrines.

Hope you enjoyed the live tour with me! Wish you too will have great luck from Ebisu! 🙂

Me holding Fukusasa 福笹 – the main lucky ornament from Tōka Ebisu