Every year on the first day of fall according to the lunar calendar, a traditional ritual takes place in the village of Tarama in Okinawa Prefecture, in which pig bones and skin are hung with a rope at the entrances to the districts of Nakasuji and Shiokawa to drive away evil spirits.
Once a year, residents of the two districts on Tarama Island each slaughter a pig, near springs inside natural caves regarded as sacred, to be offered to deities. The pigs are then eaten as part of the akibarai (fall purification) ritual — called sumafushara in the Okinawan language.
However, this year, the Miyako public health center in the prefecture instructed residents not to slaughter pigs in such a manner if they are to be eaten, as it violates the slaughterhouse and food sanitation laws.
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