Itako

This article is about the profession. For the city in Ibaraki prefecture, see Itako, Ibaraki.

An itako at the autumn Inako Taisai festival at Mount Osore, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

Itako (Japanese: イタコ), also known as ichiko (市子) or ogamisama (オガミサマ), are blind women who train to become spiritual mediums in Japan.[1] Training involves severe ascetic practices, after which the woman is said to be able to communicate with Japanese Shinto spirits, kami, and the spirits of the dead.[2] Itako perform rituals tied to communication with the dead[2] and divination.[3] The practice has been on the decline, with only 20 living itako in Japan, all more than 40 years old.[1]

Training for itako traditionally began at a very young age, and included ritualized exposure to cold water. Hundreds of buckets of ice water could be poured on their bodies over the course of a few days.[2] This education for itako takes about three years, and also includes memorization of songs and sutras.[4] At the end of this training, a ceremony is held, announcing the marriage of the itako and her patron spirit.[5]

Scholars suggest that blindness has long been associated with spiritual powers in Japan.[6]: 24  Furthermore, options for those with severe vision impairment to become self-sufficient were limited in ancient times.[7]: 190  This led many families to send young blind women to itako apprenticeships[7]: 190  up until the start of the Meiji era, which outlawed itako rituals outright.[8]: 179 

Today, itako are most commonly associated with Mt. Osore in Aomori prefecture. There, itako gather for an annual festival to channel the dead for thousands of tourists.[9]: 31  Itako perform ceremonies to communicate with spirits of the recently deceased,[2] including those of aborted and stillborn children.[7]: 198 

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Fackler-NYTimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d Blacker, Carmen (1997). Earhart, Byron (ed.). Religion in the Japanese experience : sources and interpretations (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub. Co. pp. 130–135. ISBN 0534524613.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ivy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kawamura was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference UNESCO was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference deFerranti was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c Breen, John; Teeuwen, Mark (2013). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. Routledge. ISBN 9781136827044.
  8. ^ Josephson, Jason Ānanda (2012). The invention of religion in Japan. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226412351.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schatt2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).