Draft:Waraningyō

A waraningyō Kashima-sama (鹿島様) which has long been in the Iwasaki region of Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture.

Waraningyō (Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture. In the collection of the National Museum of Ethnology, acquired in the 1970s)

Waraningyō were made to resemble warriors and dressed in armor at the Siege of Chihaya in 1333.

Waraningyō (藁人形, lit. "straw doll") are a type of Japanese dolls made by bundling straw into a human or animal shape. In ancient China they were called 芻霊 (modern Chinese: 刍灵 chúlíng) or 芻人 chúrén.

In addition to their inclusion in graves, they are also known for their use as a tool for placing curses during ushi no toki mairi. This has led to their usage in horror movies as a symbol of fear. During Japan’s Heian period, waraningyō were placed beside roads during epidemics to ward off evil spirits of sickness or carried aloft through rice paddies to ward off the pests that would destroy the crops, with the dolls then released into the river to wash away. There is also a tale in the Gunki monogatari of soldiers creating life-sized waraningyō which they dressed in armor in order to distract their enemies in combat.

Warding

Waraningyō have been used as wards against evil, such as in the Shirokino Ningyō Okuri (白木野人形送り, lit. "Shirokino Doll Sending") in the Shirakino region of Nishiwaga (formerly Yuda), Waga District, Iwate Prefecture, a festival for sending away misfortune in which a waraningyō takes on the misfortune of the region and is sent away in order to prevent disease and disaster from befalling the region. The festival is a designated Nishiwaga Intangible Cultural Property. The Shirokino Ningyō Okuri inspired the creation of Japan’s largest waraningyō at 5 m tall, 4.3 m wide located on the side of Japan National Route 107.

Shape

In addition to human-shaped waraningyō, the dolls can also be made in the shape of animals, such as horses. Some famous varieties include the shibata no warauma (新発田の藁馬, lit. "straw horse(s) of Shibata") from Shibata, Niigata Prefecture and the Ashiya no hassaku warauma (芦屋の八朔藁馬, lit. straw horse of Ashiya for the first day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar) of Fukuoka Prefecture.

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  Divorce Doll for use in praying for the end of a relationship, which falls under the domain of the kami Ushiku Enkiri Inari (牛久縁切り稲荷)
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  Deku dolls (1978, Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture)
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  Kashima doll (1979, Akita Prefecture)
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  Pest-warding dolls (1978, Nantoshi, Toyama Prefecture)
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  Hassaku Horse (1978, Ashiya, Fukuoka Prefecture)
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  Horse for Dōrokujin Festival (1978, Daisen, Tottori Prefecture)

Ushi no toki mairi

Main article: Ushi no toki mairi

During the third section of the period of the ox (from approximately 2:00 AM to 2:30 AM), a curse may be cast on a target by placing an item with a connection to the target (such as hair) inside a waraningyō and driving a particular type of long nail into the doll.

Beginning with the several days of holidays in May 2022, waraningyō with pictures of the Russian president Vladimir Putin appeared in approximately ten shrines within Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture nailed to sacred trees amongst other locations. On June 15th, the Matsudo Higashi Police arrested a male resident of the city under suspicion of trespassing and destruction of property. The suspect’s motive was assumed to be an attempt to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The shrine released a statement that the attempts left two large holes in a sacred tree (神木, shinboku). On June 27th, prosecutors announced they would not be pressing charges and the suspect was released. The police continued a non-obligatory investigation, but the shrine withdraw its request for prosecution in regards to the destruction of property charge.