WARAJI

Waraji: translation

Straw sandals, grass-soled sandals. They are specially used in Buddhism, Shinto and byyamabushi, for walking on very holy ground such as sacred mountains and are thus associated with pilgrimage and asceticism. Each November on saru-no-hi (the ninth day on the Chinese calendar) at the Nakiri jinja, Mie, great 3-metre waraji are floated out to sea (waraji-nagashi) to petition for good fishing.