針供養 - Requiem services for broken needles (hari-kuyo)

The word hari-kuyo means requiem services for broken needles that are held every year in Japan. These requiem services are very important for Japanese-style sewing. Japanese women used to sew their kimonos by themselves by hand. Even today, when almost everything is done by machines, kimonos are still only sewn by hand with needle and thread. This means that needles are very important sewing tools. Therefore Japanese people perform requiem services every year for needles that break or wear out from long use.

針供養は、裁縫と深い関係がある年中行事です。かつて日本の女性は、自分で着物を縫っていました。着物を縫う和裁では、現在でもミシンのような器械は使いません。縫い針と糸を使って、手で縫います。このような針仕事で古くなったり折れたりした縫い針を供養する日が「針供養」の日です。

The requiem services for needles are held at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples throughout Japan on February 8th and December 8th every year. Some shrines and temples hold the requiem services on one of these two days while others hold them on both days. Many temples and shrines in Kyoto and nearby hold the requiem services on December 8th. People who sew take old, broken, and dull needles to shrines or temples on the day of hari-kuyo. Then, they stick the needles into cakes of tofu and konnyaku that are placed on altars in temples and shrines. Shinto priests recite prayers called norito, and Buddhist priests recite sutras called o-kyo. People put their hands together as is normally done in prayer to thank the needles and to comfort the spirits of the needles. They also pray that they can attain proficiency in sewing. The Awashima Shrine in Wakayama Prefecture and the Horinji Temple in Kyoto are widely known for their requiem services for needles.

毎年2月8日または12月8日に、各地の神社や寺で針供養が行われます。寺社によっては、2月8日と12月8日の両日に針供養を行います。京都地方では、多くの神社や寺が12月8日に針供養を行います。針仕事をする人々は、針供養の日に使い古した裁縫針を神社や寺に持って行き、祭壇に供えられた豆腐やこんにゃくに縫い針を突き刺して納めます。人々は祭壇で合掌して針の霊を慰め、感謝すると同時に裁縫の上達を祈願します。神社では神官によって祝詞(のりと)があげられたり、寺では僧侶によってお経が唱えられたりします。 針供養で全国的に知られている寺社に和歌山県の淡島神社、京都の法輪寺などがあります。

Many Japanese women took part in hari-kuyo many years ago because women were expected to be good at sewing then. Today, however, there are few people who sew every day. Therefore, there are only a small number of people, including tailors, who participate in hari-kuyo.

女性は裁縫をすることができなければならないと考えられていた時代には、多くの人々が針供養に出かけました。今日では、日頃裁縫に従事する女性は少なくなり、針供養に参加するのは和裁師などに限られています。

There are also some people who believe that any soul dwelling within dead people, dead animals, and worn-out things including needles, dolls, and knives must be consoled. The requiem services for needles follow this belief. There have been requiem services for dolls and knives since ancient times.

日本では、人間や他の生き物だけでなく、針・人形・刃物などにも霊が宿っており、これを供養しなければならないと考えられています。針供養は、このような考え方から生まれた年中行事です。日本では、針のほかにも人形や刃物の霊を慰める供養が古くから行われています。