Usokae Shinji (Bullfinch-Exchange Rite) at Dazaifu Tenmangu

At Dazaifu Tenmangu in Dazaifu, Fukuoka, the "Usokae Shinji" (bullfinch-exchange rite) is held every January 7 at 18:00 at Tenjin Hiroba Plaza. Worshippers return the carved wooden bullfinch (uso) they received the previous year and exchange it for a new one, symbolically turning the past year's misfortunes into a "lie" (uso) and replacing them with good fortune for the new year; a new wooden bullfinch is given for an offering of 2,000 yen. The rite traces back to a legend that a flock of bullfinches once drove away a swarm of bees attacking Sugawara no Michizane during a ceremony, and is said to have continued since 986. The "Onisube Shinji" fire rite is also held the same evening at the same site, proceeding through a main-hall exorcism rite (15:00), a demon-mask decoration rite (17:00), processions departing (from 19:00), and fire-walking (around 21:00), forming a New Year tradition in Dazaifu for warding off misfortune.