Are the Namahage “ogres”? Sure, many of the masks at the Namahage Museum feature horns and tusks. However, the Shinzan region’s Namahage doesn’t have any horns. That is because at Shinzan the Namahage are believed to be envoys of the mountain gods.
You can clearly see Mt. Shinzan side-by-side with Mt. Honzan from the Mt. Kampu Revolving Lookout. Belief in mountain and agricultural deities lives on to this day throughout Japan’s rural and mountainous regions. They look up at the peaks, sacred and ever-present, palms linked in prayer. A deity then descends into the villages to bless their crops, and return to the mountains once the harvest is done. In the past, people planted common rice crops together, and would celebrate the end of a successful harvest with feasts known as “Sanaburi”. Perhaps the performance aspect of the custom began at these Sanaburi, as the locals donned god-like masks and costumes in celebration.
Modern-day Namahage rituals and events take place on the night of New Year’s Eve, but in the past, they used to take place during the “Little New Year”. On the first full moon of the year, people would welcome and entertain an envoy carrying celestial power, then celebrate as they received blessings for ripe, abundant crops for the year. Festivals for the mask-bearing Raihoshin are held all over Japan, and some regions’ versions of these deities wear gently smiling masks. And yet, in a rough peninsular region like Oga, it would surely take a village to ensure abundant crops and fishing. To inspire such unity amongst Oga families, it would be better to warn them through an impactful figure instead of a kindly deity. Perhaps the horns and tusks were added to the masks to bring out that forceful quality.
During New Year’s Eve, a young bachelor plays the role of Namahage and visits different households to caution newlywed wives and other new members of a given family. It was once common for the male breadwinners of Oga to bring in the New Year away from home, due to traveling to Hokkaido for work. Though they need not fear him, the Namahage warns the children to respect their grandfather as acting patriarch of the home while their father was away, before delivering warnings upon the older family members as well. The bachelor who plays the part also reflects on the warnings delivered. The Namahage are more than just boogeymen to spook children; they connect to the families and common people of their regions with their visits.
Many different Namahage legends exist, but the one commonality they share is that they all have the Namahage “descending from the mountains.” They also warn that they’ll “always be watching from the mountain,” before leaving. In some regions, it’s said that if you clap your hands three times, you can call the Namahage whenever you want. Look to the sacred mountains yourself, and know there dwells a being stronger than any human - ever-present and alert - watching over Oga and its people with eyes that are at once stern and gentle.
