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The Yomiuri Shimbun People take part the Ear Festival at Oyama Shrine in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Sunday.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
12:47 JST, March 7, 2023
HIROSHIMA — An annual festival to pray for ear health was held at Oyama Shrine in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Sunday.
The Ear Festival usually falls on a holiday close to Japan’s “Ear Day,” which occurs March 3, and is marked by people who suffer from ear-related illnesses, and those involved in the music industry.
Mimigo Shrine — located in the precincts of Oyama Shrine — enshrines Amenokoyane no Mikoto, a deity believed to have the power to improve ear problems and enhance interpersonal listening skills.
The Yomiuri Shimbun People offer turban shells to the deity enshrined at Oyama Shrine in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Sunday.
On Sunday, about 20 people took part in a festival ritual before passing through a panel thought to be fashioned after Amenokoyane no Mikoto’s ear.
At Oyama Shrine’s main building, participants offered the deity turban shells — said to resemble the inner ear — and a priest recited a prayer. The participants then relocated to Mimigo Shrine, where they worshipped individually.
“I learned about the Ear Festival on social media,” said a 63-year-old office worker of Niihama, Ehime Prefecture, who suffers from tinnitus. “I feel refreshed after taking part in the solemn ritual.”
