Niiname-no-Matsuri

Niiname-no-Matsuri
Observed by	Japan
Type	Religious
Significance	harvest ritual
Date	November 23
Next time	23 November 2024 (2024-11-23)
Related to	Labor Thanksgiving Day, Daijosai

The Niiname-sai (新嘗祭, also read Shinjō-sai and Niiname-no-Matsuri) is a Japanese harvest ritual.

The ritual is celebrated by the Emperor of Japan, who thanks the Shinto deities for a prosperous year and prays for a fruitful new year. It takes place near the Three Palace Sanctuaries in the Tokyo Imperial Palace and at several large Shinto shrines. The first Niiname-sai for a new emperor is known as the Daijō-sai (大嘗祭), and is part of his enthronement ceremonies.

In pre-modern Japan, the date of the Niiname-sai was moveable, taking place on the last Day of the Rabbit of the eleventh month of the old Japanese lunar calendar, but in the Meiji period the date was fixed at November 23, and this date became a national holiday, Labor Thanksgiving Day, in the Shōwa period after World War II.

The Engishiki specified imperial involvement with four festivals, the Kinen-sai, the two Ōharae-shikis and Niiname-no-Matsuri for tribute.^[1]: 36

In ancient times, people held domestic rites called Kinen-sai in the February or April and Niiname-sai in November. During these rites, people worshiped their ancestors, the god of food, and the hearth deity. They believed the spirits of their ancestors (Oyagami) came to them through the rice.^[2]

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