Namahage – Expelling one’s lazy spirit & bringing good fortune to families

Akita Prefecture is a renowned beautiful countryside not only for its scenery, delicious rice and sake, but also for its distinctive folklores and rituals. Namahage, designated as a significant intangible folk cultural asset of Japan, is one of the rituals Akita Prefecture is proud to present.

An annual ritual of Nahamage takes place on the 31th December in Oga Peninsula of Akita. Young men dress like the scary Namahage demon, go door-to-door in the village searching for children or new community members like young wife and husband in-a-law. Each portrayer of Namahage adorns an eerie demon mask, a straw raincoat and waistband and carries a scary knife made of wood.
They burst into a house holding a knife over his head and screaming “woooo! Is there any crying children? Is there any lazy wife or husband?”

Namahage encourages the children to keep studying and the adult to keep working hard. The head of family appeases Namahage by the warm hospitality, offering sake and foods. As the story goes on, lazy spirit of people is dragged into the snow covered mountains, and then Namahage leaves that house, promising that the family will be blessed with good health, a large catch and a rich crop in the New Year, and then set off to visit the next home.

Throughout the year, if children do something bad, parents will threaten them by saying “Namahage will come and catch you if you do naughty!”