Utagaki
utagaki 歌垣 also read kagai 嬥歌 ancient japanese shinto ritual gathering villager would meet mountaintop singing dancing eating free sexual intercourse reciting poetry would occur celebration beginning spring autumn event closely associated harvest rite therefore fertility word utagaki might come different kanji 歌掛き shortening uta kakeru song gathering song presentation kagai synonym used tohoku dialect possibly related kakeai lyric contest utagaki seems originated kofun period around reign emperor kenzo reached height nara period festival trait detailed manyōshū fudoki chronicle ancient japanese literature origin might tied festival kunimi hanami festival celebrated fertility cycle crop harvest hosted biannually seasonal transition localized variation abounded though featured offering ritual sexual activity local god allowed occasion temporal abolishment social norm marriage decorum utagaki meant increase female fertility male virility blessing deity bringing prosperity village inhabitant though celebrated peasant utagaki prestigious ritual point record emperor shomu daughter empress shotoku visiting gathering offer gift utakagi took shape feast mountaintops poetry song exchanged participant contest meant seduce suitor mount tsukuba ibaraki prefecture especially popular place meeting attracting people kanto region shinto shrine served place sexual encounter became oita prefecture region like ibaraki aichi feast included parade ritual dance kagura given license maintain sexual relationship despite breaking social etiquette utagaki contained rule woman allowed reject accept suitor though sometimes condition accepting least three festival granted unmarried people chance find partner outside village couple love excuse encounter conceiving illegitimate offspring utagaki considered dishonorable though carried obligation reign emperor kanmu night festival yomatsuri banned due excessive unruliness utagaki survived century eventually syncretized ullambana festival amitabha buddhism true suppression would come meiji restoration spite remnans tradition remain izu ryukyu island although divested sexual overtone kurayami matsuri