About the Ground-breaking Ceremony

It has been a while!　This is Kawano from sales.

I recently participated in a ground-breaking ceremony for the first time, and I would like to talk about it!

Jichinsai is a Japanese ceremony to appease the gods by greeting them with the words, “I will build a house on this land, so please take care of it,” with the meaning of asking for permission to use the land when building a house.

By holding a ground-breaking ceremony and asking for permission from the gods, we are preventing tamari and praying for the safety of construction.

I’m sure you are all somewhat familiar with the process of a ground-breaking ceremony, but did you know that there is actually a meaning to every single act?

Although the details may vary depending on the region, budget, format, etc., we will provide a general ground-breaking ceremony flow!

~The Groundbreaking Ceremony Process

(1) Shukuri-no-shiki (purification ceremony)

→After everyone stands, the priest purifies the offerings and attendees.

(2) Ceremony of the Gods of descent

→The Shinto priest invites the landowner deity. The participants stand up, bow their heads, and welcome the landowner deity to the altar.

(iii) Offering of food

→The Shinto priest presents consecrated sake, water, and offerings to the landowner deity.

(4) Statements of congratulatory words

→The Shinto priest prays for the safety of the new construction. Attendees stand up, bow their heads, and pray.

(5) Exorcisms in all directions

→Purify the land with rice and salt.

➅ Groundbreaking Ceremony

→The owner calls out loudly “ei ei ei” three times to break up the sand.

(7) worship of the tamagushi (a branch of a sacred tree)

→The participants in turn place the tamagushi on the altar and offer it to the landowner with two rounds of applause and one round of bow.

(viii) The U.S. Department of State’s (DOE) “U.S. Department of State

→The priest lowers the offerings.

(9) Rite of Ascension of the Gods

→The Shinto priest sends back the landowner god.

(10) I’m a goddess of (common) sense

→The toast is offered in prayer for safety. The priest performs the “ondo” (the leading part of the ceremony).

(11) Priests retiring

→The priest leaves the site.

Although there are many processes like this, it takes about one hour.

Recently, more and more customers do not hold jichinsai ceremonies, but I would like to hold one when I build a house in the future because it is a special event that the builder can hold and it will be a memory for the family ✨.